A Misunderstanding
by DeathGoblin
Summary: Charizard goes out into the world to explore and a chance encounter leads him to battle under Misty. Ash's Pidgeot, who has no knowledge of recent events, witnesses this and thinks that Charizard wants to be Misty's pokemon. Takes place during DP.
1. A Chance Encounter

Disclaimer: I have no rights to Pokémon and do not own it.

Note: This is my first pokemon story so please ease up on any criticism.

/"blah!"/ = Pokemon talk _/blah!/_ = pokemon thought

* * *

Liza raised an eyebrow as she stood facing Ash's Charizard. "You want to go out and explore?"

Charizard made an affirmative nod accompanied by a grunt.

Liza gave Charizard an uncertain look. _I'm not sure if this is a good idea, but I guess I can't stop it. If Charizard wants to explore, then it can go. I just hope it'll be all right or Ash won't forgive me._

Charizard sensed that she was deep in thought and growled to get her attention back. _/What's taking her so long? Is it really that hard for her to let me go?/_

"Um…I guess I could let you go," said Liza. "But you can't be gone too long. There's no telling when Ahs will need your help. Try not to be away for more than a week."

With a smile, Charizard let out a happy growl. It then spread its wings and took off with a happy roar, shooting fire into the sky.

As she watched Charizard fly away, Liza couldn't help but wonder if she had opened to door to trouble.

* * *

Misty walked out of the Cerulean city Pokémon center, with her psyduck in tow. She had just given away another cascade badge to a tough trainer, and all of her powerful Pokémon were now recovering at the center. The only battle-ready Pokémon with her was psyduck and relying on it would be relying on chance.

She let out an exhausted sigh. _The last few battles have been really tough. I'll have to close the gym until all of my stronger Pokémon are healed._

"Well what do we have here?"

Misty stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the three figures standing in front of her. They all had matching blue outfits. _Oh no! Not them…not now!_

The leader stepped forward with his poke ball in hand. "It's time for a rematch Misty. No one gets away with humiliating the Invincible Brothers!"

"This isn't the time," said Misty desperately. "Why don't you come back when my Pokémon are healed?"

"Are you crazy? This is the perfect opportunity for us to have our revenge, especially with that Gyarados out of the way."

The other two brothers snickered as their leader called out his Tentacruel. Misty realized that she had no choice. All she could do was hope that Officer Jenny would happen by the area before it was too late.

Taking out her own poke ball, Misty called out a Goldeen. It was much weaker than the one she usually used, but she had to make due. "Now Goldeen, use peck!"

The man snickered. "Tentacruel. Use poison sting."

Poison darts shot forward from Tentacruel and hit their mark. The poor Goldeen was knocked out by the first hit.

"Return Goldeen." Misty eyed the poke ball with a sorrowful expression. "I'm sorry Goldeen. You weren't ready for your first battle."

"So what's next Misty? If you don't choose another Pokémon, you'll forfeit and I'll become the new leader of Cerulean Gym."

She shot him a glare. "Alright you cheaters. I'll show you what a real water Pokémon can do. Isn't that right Psyduck?"

"Duck." Holding its head with both hands, Psyduck waddled forward.

The three brothers broke out into laughter. "Tentacruel! Use wrap attack!"

The tentacles clamped tightly around Psyduck's head. The poor Pokémon could feel the pressure increasing as Tentacruel tightened its grip. The pain went up, giving Psyduck a headache.

When she saw Psyduck's eyes glowing Misty knew that it was time to attack. A sly grin formed on her face. "Now Psyduck, use confusion!"

"Psy-duck." Tentacruel was lifted into the air and thrown against a building.

The three brothers were shocked. "Return Tentacruel," said the leader.  
"Alright, I'm not going to underestimate that again. Go Hitmonchan!"

"Chan." Hitmonchan threw a few mock punches after appearing out of the poke ball.

"Use thunder punch!" Electricity sparked from Hitmonchan's fist as it charged towards Psyduck.

"Oh no! Psyduck!" Misty scared. Psyduck didn't have the sense to evade the attack and its powers had worn off. There was no escape and she didn't have any Pokémon left to battle with.

The figures in the streets were oblivious to the large creature, which had perched atop a nearby building. Charizard had arrived at Cerulean city a short while ago, and recognized Misty. The battle with the Invincible Brothers had caught his attention, but he couldn't help but feel that this was unfair. His trainer's friend and former companion was now in danger, and he felt that he had to help her.

He saw Hitmonchan heading towards the clueless Psyduck and decided to intervene. Swooping down, he landed in between Psyduck and Hitmonchan.

"Mon Chan?" Hitmonchan stopped in its track.

Opening it mouth, Charizard let loose a powerful Flamethrower. The blast sizzled Hitmonchan, knocking it out within seconds.

Misty's eyed Charizard with a surprised and confused expression. _What's a Charizard doing here…wait a minute…is that?_ "Hey Charizard! Is that you?"

Turning to her with a smile, Charizard let out a friendly grunt. He then got ready to battle as the other two brothers jumped in and summoned their Tentacruel.

"You'll pay for that," said one of the brothers. "You and your Charizard!"

"Get them Tentacruel!" The two Tentacruels lunged at Charizard.

Charizard motioned to Misty. _/I've always wondered what kind of trainer she was./_

Misty raised an eyebrow. "You want to battle with me?"

Charizard nodded.

"Alright then. Charizard! Dragon Rage!"

With a mighty roar, Charizard let loose a powerful Dragon Rage. The flame-like attack pushed the Tentacruels back into the invincible brother and sent the entire group of five flying into the air.

With the threat gone, Charizard turned back to Misty to make sure she was ok. _/She looks fine, and Psyduck looks okay too, but she doesn't have any strong Pokémon with her. Maybe I should stay here to protect her. It's what Ash would want me to do./_

"Charizard, did Ash send you?" Misty was surprised when Charizard shook its head. "Well, were you on your way somewhere else and came only to help me?" He shook his head again. "Wait! You came here on your own?"

Charizard nodded. _/Why is she so surprised? If Ash can travel around without me, then it's only fair that I can do that as well./_

"So…why are you here Charizard?" Misty's only response were a few grunts. "Oh I get it. You left the Charcific valley to explore and battle other Pokémon for a little while. You just happened by and saw I was in danger, right?" Charizard nodded, causing her to smile. "Thanks Charizard."

Psyduck tugged at Misty's pant to get her attention. "Psy…Duck."

"Oh, that's right. I should get you and Goldeen to the Pokémon center." She turned back to Charizard. "Mind coming along Charizard? I could use the protection while my Pokémon are healing."

Charizard nodded and followed Misty back to the Pokémon center.

* * *

Unknown to all of them, another of Ash's Pokémon had caught sight of what had occurred, but this one didn't have all the facts.

Pidgeot had been flying its flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto to a forest near Vermillion city. As it flew at the back to keep watch, it had caught sight of the battle, but only the part where Misty had ordered Charizard to use Dragon Rage, and had left the area shortly after to find a place to rest the flock.

He called out to get the others' attention. /"I have some business in Cerulean city. We'll be landing in the forest near Cerulean."/ Once the flock had landed and Pidgeot had made sure they were safe, he flew back into town.

Pidgeot knew that Misty would go to the Pokémon center after a battle, so he decided to start his investigation from there. When he reached the Pokémon center, he saw Misty leaving with Charizard and Psyduck by her side.

The last time Pidgeot had seen Charizard, he had been disobedient and a constant headache for Ash. It didn't bother Pidgeot too much when Charmander became Charmeleon, but when Charmeleon evolved into Charizard, Pidgeot had felt upset that its disobedience continued.

Watching Charizard battle perfectly for Misty had raised Pidgeot's suspicion. _/That traitor! He's betrayed Ash to join up with Misty!/_

"Thanks for staying at the gym with me Charizard," said Misty. "If those 'Invincible' brothers return before my other water Pokémon are ready, I'll be in trouble."

Charizard roared.

"Does Ash know you're here?"

Charizard shook its head.

"Oh…well I guess Ash wouldn't mind. He said he wants to catch a fresh set of Pokémon when he enters the Sinnoh League, so I'm sure he won't need you any time soon."

The eavesdropping Pidgeot slowly formed a story from what he was hearing. _/Misty isn't travelling with Ash anymore, and has returned to her place at the Cerulean Gym. Ash is off on another journey at a place called Sinnoh, and when his back is turned, the traitor decides to come here and join Misty? I must get this message to Ash and Pikachu./_

Pidgeot decided to return to its flock and change course for the Sinnoh region in search of Ash.

* * *

Misty opened the door to a large room. It didn't have any furniture, but the floor was soft and padded. "Sorry if it doesn't seem so…homely, but this is the best room I could provide for you Charizard." She chuckled. "After all, you can't sleep in the pool with the other water types."

Charizard smiled and let out a friendly grunt. Walking into the room, it found a spot to rest and curled up on the ground.

"Just holler if you need anything," said Misty. "Good night Charizard."

Now that Charizard had a place to stay, an exhausted Misty fell onto her bed. _I miss Togepi. She used to make me happy after a hard day as the gym leader. At least Charizard's here now. Without Gyarados, there'll be a lot more trouble at the gym. I just hope Ash wouldn't mind._

Closing her eyes, Misty drifted into a deep sleep with a soft smile on her face.

* * *

This could turn into a full story, but for now I'm leaving it as a oneshot for now since I have other stories to work on.


	2. Breakfast at the Cerulean Gym

Disclaimer: I have no rights to Pokémon and do not own it.

* * *

When Charizard's eyes opened, he saw his shadow, a product of light filtering in through the window. With a grunt, he got to his feet and cautiously went through the door. As he entered the hallway the smell of breakfast wafted through the air, and it smelled like waffles. Even though Charizard would prefer special Pokémon food, he also had a taste for human food as well.

Keeping his wings down, so as to avoid hitting the ceiling, Charizard walked through the hallways of Cerulean gym. However, he paused when he reached the hallway leading directly to the kitchen. It was like an aquarium tunnel, surrounded by water on both sides as well as having water above it. Charizard was far from a coward, but as a fire Pokémon, he couldn't help feeling uneasy at the thought of having an Olympic pool's worth of water above his head.

However, the smell of food was too much to resist, and Charizard's grumbling tummy insisted that he make the trip. Charizard's eyes darted around as he slowly walked through the hallway. Since the floor wasn't made of glass, he could only hope that there wasn't water below him as well. He could tell that the pool was deeper than the level he was standing.

Charizard let out a sigh of relief as he realized he was within the last ten feet of the tunnel. _/Honestly, how do the people here deal with this? They're air breathers like me? Having a hallway surrounded by water is far from relaxing./_

He heard a voice coming from the kitchen, which was just up ahead. "Well Psyduck, I think these are the best waffles I've ever made."

"Psy…Duck." /"Yeah right."/

Charizard knew that Misty had infamously bad cooking skills, but had never had a taste of it before. _/She couldn't be that bad of a cook…could she?/_

Misty heard the footsteps and looked up with a smile as Charizard entered the kitchen. "Good morning Charizard. Did you sleep well."

Charizard nodded and made a friendly grunt.

"That's good. I hope you're hungry, cause I made waffles. Psyduck doesn't seem to have much faith in my cooking skills, but I'm going to prove him wrong." Misty smiled proudly. "I've been practicing."

Psyduck walked up to Charizard with its hands holding its head. /"Be warned, I know you'll have to try it, but don't expect much./ Psyduck shuddered inwardly at the thought of the last time he had eaten Misty's cooking, though his blank exterior concealed this.

"Here you go," said Misty as she pilled three large waffles on Charizard's plate. She set the plate on the table, and saw the Charizard was standing instead of sitting on one of the chairs. "You can sit down if you want to Charizard. Don't worry, those seats can take a lot of weight."

Charizard shook his head. He preferred to stand when he ate.

"That's fine, you can stand and eat to." Misty went back to the stove, where she continued making waffles.

Charizard sniffed the food cautiously before taking a bite. He didn't chew his food, he would always swallow it whole. He paused when the food touched his tongue. Misty and Psyduck stopped whatever they were doing and turned their attention to him, eager to know his verdict. After a minute long paused, Charizard swallowed the piece, and with a happy grunt, began wolfing down the other three waffles.

Misty gave Psyduck a triumphant grin. "See Psyduck, Charizard recognizes how good my cooking is. Right Charizard?"

Charizard answered her with a happy roar as Misty placed more waffles on his plate. He then dove into the food again.

"Psy-Psy Duck."

Misty shot Psyduck a glare. "What do you mean he's the only one who'd like my cooking? You're just jealous because I was right." To prove her point, Misty placed a freshly made waffle onto her plate and with her fork, took a big chunk and shoved it into her mouth. Turning to Psyduck, she made sure he saw her chew it and swallow it. With an exaggerated "Mmmm," she patted her stomach and said, "That was good. Try some Psyduck."

As Psyduck began to reconsider Misty's waffles, he heard his trainer whimper, and turned to look at her. Her face had turned red and there was steam coming out of her ears.

"N-no wonder Charizard liked the food…" Struggling to maintain her composure, Misty turned to Charizard and said. "Feel free to have the rest of the waffles. Psyduck and I don't want any. Now if you'll excuse me." Getting up from her seat, Misty ran out of the kitchen. Moments later, a splash was heard as she submerged her head in the pool.

"Duck." Psyduck calmly turned off the stove, as if he had been doing this for a while. He then made his way out of the room and down the hallway Charizard had gone through until he reached a large fridge labeled Pokémon food. Opening the vault, he walked up to a crate and pulled the top off. He then began eating the food inside.

* * *

Meanwhile, after a nice dunk in the Cerulean pool, Misty had rid herself of her waffles spicy after taste. Making her way back to the kitchen, she saw Charizard happily helping himself to the remainder of the waffles. Sighing to herself, she opened one of the cabinets and took out a bowl, which she then filled with cereal and milk.

"I guess I have a long way to go as a cook," said Misty as she sat at the table with her cereal. "Those waffles were so spicy. It's no wonder you liked them Charizard, after all, you're a fire type."

Charizard responded with a satisfied grunt as he finished the waffles. Psyduck arrived moments later with a handful of Pokémon food.

When she had finished her cereal, Misty decided to call the Pokémon center to check up on her Pokémon. Nurse Joy's face appeared on the screen. "Hello Misty."

"Hi Nurse Joy. I was calling to see how my Pokémon are doing."

"They're on the road to recovery. You're Gyarados should be ready for battle by tomorrow, though that young Goldeen you battle with earlier won't be able to leave the center for a week."

Misty's face saddened. _I'm sorry Goldeen. I shouldn't have made you battle. I should've used Psyduck from the start._

Nurse Joy seemed to pick up on her mood. "Don't be upset Misty. I'm sure Goldeen understands. It won't blame you."

"Thanks Nurse Joy."

Joy nodded with a smiled, but then tilted her head as she caught a glimpse of Charizard. "By the way, that's the Charizard from yesterday isn't it?" Misty nodded. "It's a fire Pokémon. What's it doing in the Gym?"

"Charizard actually belongs to my friend, Ash. Ash left it somewhere where it could train, but Charizard decided to leave and explore the world for a while. It was only by chance that it came here and help me out. Charizard agreed to stay here until my Pokémon are fully healed."

"I understand," replied Nurse Joy. "But I suggest you close down the Gym for now. The Cerulean Gym leader isn't supposed to use fire types."

"Don't worry. I already placed a sign at the front that says the Gym's closed. Nobody would be coming here for a battle."

"That's good." Joy then heard the doors open as a trainer rushed inside with an injured Pokémon. "I'll have to go now Misty. Don't worry about your Pokémon. Just enjoy yourself."

"Thanks. Bye." When the phone call was finished, Misty decided to feed all of the weak water Pokémon in the Gym's aquarium. These Pokémon where mainly Goldeen and Magikarp, and were not suitable for battle.

She made her way to the same fridge Psyduck had been to, and found the correct crates, containing the food for the fish Pokémon. She heard footsteps behind her and saw Charizard. "Charizard? Do you want to help?"

Charizard grunted and nodded.

"Thanks. Can you carry this crate for me?" Misty pointed to the crate. "We're going to feed some of the Magikarp and Goldeen here."

Charizard was easily able to lift up the crate, and followed Misty up a flight of stairs and down a hallway, which, to Charizard's relief, didn't have an aquarium view. When they reached the end of the hallway they came reached the side of a swimming pool. It wasn't the pool where Misty's sisters had their shows or where the gym battles occurred. It was more of a backup pool where all of the young and weaker water Pokémon stayed.

Kneeling at the edge of the pool, Misty called out to the water Pokémon. "Hey guys. It's breakfast time." The water Pokémon immediately came to the surface, but quickly shied away as they saw Charizard. Misty sensed this, and gave them a sweet smile. "Don't be afraid guys. This is Charizard. He belongs to my friend Ash, and he's really nice."

To help the cause, Charizard let out a friendly grunt and gave all of the fish Pokémon a friendly smile.

When they saw that he wasn't threatening them, the Goldeen and Magikarp came back to the surface. Misty smiled and turned to Charizard. "Alright Charizard, do you want to feed them too?"

Charizard nodded.

"Good. Just take a handful of food from the crate and hold it right at the water's surface. They'll come to your hand and nibble on the food."

Charizard did as he was told and was rewarded by the small fish Pokémon eating out of his hand. _/This is fun. Maybe I should come back here later when I decide to go exploring again. /

* * *

_

"Sorry Paul," said Ash. "I guess we'll have to postpone our battle. Starly was really beaten up by Team Rocket."

Paul smirked. "How pathetic. The fact that one of your Pokémon was actually hurt that badly by those losers, tells me that you won't stand a chance."

"What is wrong with you Paul," said Dawn, not expecting an answer.

Ash growled in frustration as he saw Paul walking away. _I want to battle him so badly, but he'll only accept three on three battles. With Starly out, my only Pokémon are Pikachu and Aipom._

"Come on Ash," said a levelheaded Brock. "Don't get yourself wound up over him. Just forget it. You can prove yourself against him at the Sinnoh League."

"I guess so." Ash looked upset, until he heard an oddly familiar sound.

"Pidegeot!" A large silhouette descended towards Ash, followed by many smaller ones.


	3. Happy Reunion

Disclaimer: I have no rights to Pokémon and do not own it.

* * *

Ash's eyes widened as he recognized the Pokémon descending towards him. Pikachu also perked up as he recognized his old friend. Pidgeot swooped down, and landed gracefully in front of Ash, as his flock landed in the trees nearby.

"Hey Pidgeot!" Ash was elated at seeing his old friend. Even if it had been a long time since he'd seen his old friend, Ash still recognized his Pidgeot. He wasted no time in walking up to his old friend and enveloping him in a hug.

"Pi-Pikachu!" /"It's so nice to see you again!"/ Pikachu leapt onto Ash's shoulder, his own way of getting into the hug.

/"Likewise,"/ replied Pidgeot.

"Wow Pidgeot," said Ash as he looked over his old friend. "You've certainly kept up your strength." He then remembered Paul and a devious grin appeared. "So are up for a battle. You see, I have this new rival named Paul, but I only have two Pokémon with me right now. Would you like to battle with me?"

Pidgeot was elated and nodded affirmatively. /_I look forward to battling with you again Ash…though last I checked I thought you had more than just two Pokémon. _/ He then remembered seeing Charizard obey Misty's command, and his inner mood darkened somewhat. /_Then again, if every Pokémon he caught was like Charizard, I'm not surprised that he's only go two left. _/

Though Ash and Brock were oblivious, Pikachu noticed something was off with Pidgeot. He suspected that there could have been a reason behind this visit, a reason that wouldn't be pleasant. However, not wanting to upset the mood as Ash introduced Brock, Dawn and all the new Pokémon to Pidgeot, Pikachu decided to confront the bird Pokémon later.

* * *

"You're really getting good at this," complimented Misty as she watched Charizard feed lunch to the Goldeen and Magikarp. She had to admit that it was impressive for a tough Pokémon, especially a fire type like Charizard, to be so gentle with young water type Pokémon.

Charizard grunted a thank you in response to her comment as he continued to watch over the fish Pokémon nibbling at the food in his hand. At first it had felt strange to him. The thought of having small, tender little Pokémon feeding out of his hand would've seemed absurd yesterday.

The idea of being gentle was foreign to him, and it was still something that needed getting used to. He wasn't ready to admit that bringing happiness to those little water Pokémon felt rewarding in its own right. He was still too tough to give in to the fact that feeding them warmed his heart.

Misty, however, was more perceptive than most gave her credit. She clearly saw Charizard beginning to warm up. It was a side of him that she hadn't ever seen before. She even doubted that Ash knew. Charizard had never shown gentleness before, even with Ash and Pikachu.

_I'm really glad that Charizard showed up_, thought Misty as watched on with smile. _Who knows, maybe he'll eventually drop the tough guy image, and make some new friends._ Though she hadn't really made it a point to do so, she had seen Charizard's interactions with other Pokémon from the time it was a Charmeleon.

She had become sad when Charmeleon stopped obeying Ash, though she was mostly sad for Ash. Charmander, as she remembered, had been part of the group, but after becoming Charizard, he had been, to some extent, ostracized by the other, smaller Pokémon. She originally thought it was because of his disobedience, and that the other Pokémon were just afraid of him, but even after he became obedient, the other Pokémon never really associated with him on the few occasions that they were all there. It seemed like Charizard had lost his ability to interact with the smaller Pokémon.

Bearing this in mind, she hoped that Charizard would make some new friends and recover his social skills.

As the fire-type finished feeding the fish Pokémon, she walked up to him with a sweet smile. "I guess we should have our lunch now. I ordered pizza for myself and I made you some more waffles since you seem to enjoy my cooking so much."

Charizard nodded and gave her a close-eyed smile accompanied by a friendly grunt. /_Misty is really nice, and I like her cooking too. Wonder why everyone else doesn't like it? _/ He followed Misty to the dining room where Psyduck was waiting for them.

The Psyduck had already set the table and gotten some water Pokémon food.

"Here you go Charizard," said Misty as she placed some of her special waffles on his plate. "Now eat up, I'm sure you're very hungry."

Letting out a friendly grunt, Charizard began wolfing down the waffles. Psyduck looked on as if he were watching someone eat a pile of dung, though his stoic expression concealed all of his emotions.

Misty heard the doorbell ring, indicating that the pizza had arrived. She left Charizard and Psyduck to eat as she went to receive the pizza. When she was out of earshot, Psyduck took the opportunity to ask a nagging question.

/"How can you stomach Misty's cooking?"/

Charizard gave a thoughtful look before shrugging it off. /"I just like it. It might be because it's spicy. I like spicy food."/

Psyduck sighed inwardly, content with the answer. /_What dumb luck? She bungles up and accidently comes up with the perfect recipe for Charizard._ /

Misty came back a few minutes later with a medium sized pizza. Setting it down on the table, she began taking a few slices and then put the remainder in the fridge to eat later.

The three of them sat in peace, eating their lunch, though Misty became curious about something. "Hey Charizard…have you seen Ash recently?"

Charizard shook his head and grunted. /"No I haven't seen him."/

Though she didn't understand the Pokémon language, Misty was able to pick up the non-verbal cues, something she had learned as a gym leader, which allowed her to better understand Pokémon.

"So I guess Ash hasn't had many really hard battles then," replied Misty. "He usually only asks for you as his trump card."

Charizard couldn't help smirking at that comment. /_Trump card…I like the sound of that. She's very perceptive…she compliments Ash nicely; I'll bet he misses her. _/

"Not that I don't approve of you venturing out on your own, but what if Ash needs you when you're away. I don't think he knows that you're here."

Charizard grunted, and shrugged. /"Ash is not my absolute master. I'm not ready to sacrifice my entire life to serving him and he knows it."/

Misty nodded, picking out the meaning from his body language. "I guess you're right. It is more of a partnership than a master and servant relationship."

Charizard nodded in response. /_Wow…she really knows how to read us Pokémon._ / He felt impressed with her. In all the time that he'd known her, Charizard never thought to interact with Misty much. Now, however, he felt like he was meeting her for the first time, and realized that he was making a new friend.

* * *

"So is your Starly better now?" asked Paul as he and Ash stood facing each other, ready for battle.

Ash shook his head, a devious smirk crossing his features. "Let's just say I ran into an old friend of mine at the last minute."

Paul raised a suspicious eyebrow. _He's up to something._ "Alright. Let's see what this old friend of yours can do."

(A/N: I don't feel like describing the battle between Ash and Paul, so I'll just summarize it.)

Ash's Aipom was able to defeat Paul's Chimchar, and Pikachu fought his Elekid to a tie. However, Ash's Pidgeot was a big surprise and threw a wrench into Paul's plans. When Ash sent it out, Paul realized that it was on a high level and sent out his most Weavile, hoping that the ice-type would prevail. However, Ash had knack for defeating Pokémon who were supposed to have a type advantage, and his Pidgeot was on a much higher level than Weavile. Once Pidgeot was out, Ash's victory was almost guaranteed, and Paul was in shock.

"Where did that thing come from?" asked a bitter Paul as he watched with disgust as Ash congratulated Pidgeot.

"That's Ash's Pidgeot," said Brock. "He left it in the forest to guard that flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto." Brock directed Paul's attention to the flock of bird Pokémon in the nearby trees. They all looked happy at seeing their leader win his battle.

"Hmph! Why would he set such a powerful Pokémon free? He's such a sentimental idiot!"

Brock gave him a knowing smile. "Yet even after being apart for so long, they still battle together perfectly."

"I'm leaving," replied Paul in a bitter tone. _I should've used Torterra!_

Brock gave him a sympathetic smile before turning to Ash who was busy hugging and celebrating his victory with Pidgeot. He couldn't help, but feel strange about Pidgeot coming here. He had never known its kind to migrate into the Sinnoh region unless they specifically wanted to find something there.

"Is something wrong Brock?" asked Dawn as she walked up to him.

"Not really. Just wondering why Ash's Pidgeot came to the Sinnoh region. It isn't normal for them to come this far north. He must be here specifically to find Ash."

"So what's wrong with that?"

"Ash left Pidgeot in the wild over two years ago. Why hunt for him now? Maybe something came up and Pidgeot felt like he had to find Ash."

"I don't know Brock," replied Dawn as she smiled warmly at Ash who was showing Pidgeot some affection. "Maybe he just realized how much he missed Ash."

Later, at night, Ash and co. had turned in for the night, but Pikachu decided to stay up late and talk to Pidgeot. The bird Pokémon was sitting outside, watching over his flock. He heard Pikachu approaching and turned to his old friend with a friendly chirp.

/"Hello Pikachu. Is there something you want to talk about?"/

/"Yes I do. I was wondering why you suddenly came here to Sinnoh. Not that I'm unhappy to see you, but you wouldn't normally bring your flock here. Were you specifically looking for Ash?"/

/"I was,"/ replied Pidgeot. /"Do you remember Charizard?"/

/"I do,"/ replied Pikachu, in an uneasy tone. He had a feeling that this would be troublesome. /"What did he do?"/

/"He's with Misty."/

Pikachu tilted his head to the side inquisitively. /"With Misty? Why would Charizard visit Misty? Isn't he supposed to be training at the Charcific valley?"/

/"It gets worse,"/ continued Pidgeot. /"I saw him battling under her!"/ He said it in a way that made it sound scandalous.

/"I still don't see the problem,"/ replied Pikachu. /"Was it a gym battle?"/

/"I'm not sure, but she was battling someone."/

Pikachu sighed, and paced back and forth putting the pieces together. /"So let me get this straight, you think Charizard wants to be Misty's Pokémon instead of Ash's?"/

/"That's exactly what I think,"/ replied Pidgeot firmly.

/"Well I supposed we should try and communicate this to Ash…not that it'll be easy."/ Pikachu yawned before turning back to the Pokémon center. /"Goodnight Pidgeot. I'm turning in for the night."/

* * *

It's been too long since I update, but now that I've only got four stories to juggle, I'll probably try and update more often. Also, I don't feel like writing about the Pokemon battles, so I'll mostly summarize them. Anyway, I hope you like the way Misty and Charizard's relationship is developing. Also, I have no clue how Ash is going to find out about this, so any suggestions would help. I'm also not sure if Ash would still be the jealous type at this point in the series.


	4. Making Friends

Disclaimer: I have no rights to Pokémon and do not own it.

* * *

Later that night, Misty got a call from Nurse Joy. She found out that her Gyarados, Starmie, and Politoed were fully healed and ready for battle. Giving the nurse a happy smile, she thanked her, before saying that she would pick them up in the morning.

The night went by fast as Misty realized what this could mean for Charizard. Her Gyarados could definitely relate to his predicament. Both Charizard and Gyarados were tough, and intimidating Pokémon amidst a group of smaller, and tamer looking Pokémon, most of which were small and adorable.

When Morning came, Misty informed Charizard and Psyduck of where she was going before leaving to pick up her Pokémon. Upon reaching the Pokémon center, Nurse Joy greeted her before handing over a tray. "Here you are Misty," said the Nurse with a cheerful smile. "They should be ready for battle, though I suggest giving them a day off to relax a bit."

"I will, and thanks Nurse Joy," replied Misty, taking the Pokémon from and putting them in her pack. "How long until the others are ready?"

"It should only be a couple of days before they are ready to go home," replied the Nurse. "However, that young Goldeen shouldn't battle for at least a week after coming home."

"Got it," replied Misty. "I won't make the same mistake twice." Her walk back home was uneventful. A handful of people asked her if the Gym would be reopening soon, and she informed them that they would have to wait a little while longer. She felt markedly more confident with her strong Pokémon back, and had a skip in her step.

When she arrived, she released the Pokémon from their pokeballs. "Hey Charizard, Psyduck, we're back!" It didn't take long for a cheerful Charizard to emerge, followed closely by a less enthusiastic Psyduck. They were both happy to see three of Misty's Pokémon back in shape.

Starmie, Politoed, and Gyarados were surprised to see Ash's Charizard there. In fact, Gyarados had never even seen Charizard before. Silence persisted for a few moments before Misty caught on.

She gave her Pokémon an apologetic smile before saying, "Charizard is visiting us right now. He was exploring and came here by coincidence. He's been a real help with feeding the other water Pokémon." She gave Charizard a friendly smile before turning back to Gyarados and co. "I'm sure you'll all get along nicely with him."

Charizard let out a friendly grunt. /"Hello."/

"I'll leave you guys to get acquainted while I go make some breakfast." Misty's Pokémon all cringed at the thought of her making breakfast. However, when she was gone, the focus shifted back to Charizard.

/"It's nice to see that you're all better now,"/ said Charizard to break the ice.

The other three Pokémon just stared at him before Psyduck came to his rescue. /"Did you know that Charizard actually likes Misty's cooking?"/

The other three water type's cringes as they turned to Charizard. All of them, except for Starmie (due to obvious reasons), had a sick expression, demanding an explanation. To them it seemed like a general rule that whatever Misty cooked was tainted somehow.

The fire type chuckled at their faces (except starmie's). /"I don't mind her cooking at all. It might be dumb luck on her part, but her recipe for pancakes seems like the perfect food for me. I actually think it's better than what Brock used to make for me."/

Now all of them were shocked, including Psyduck. While they all agreed that Misty's cooking was bad, they had also unconsciously agreed that Brock's cooking was akin to ambrosia. How could Charizard, not only like something Misty made, but prefer it to what Brock used to make?

Not in the mood to find out, Gyarados quickly changed the subject. /"So how's the training coming. I heard that Ash left you in a place called the Charcific valley so you could get stronger. What kind of training do you do there?"/

/"It's mostly physical training,"/ replied Charizard. /"We train without humans telling us what to do, and rarely use our fire-type moves, though physical training does help with that as well."/

/"Is it all about power?"/ asked Gyarados.

Charizard shrugged casually. /"Pretty much. We generally don't focus on speed, mostly close-quarter combat. Speed just comes naturally to us as we level up."/

/"Sounds like fun,"/ replied Gyarados. /"Misty usually tells us to practice our grace and fluidity. That can be useful too in a battle."/

Charizard nodded, understanding exactly what Gyarados meant. /"Maybe we should spar some time. I'm sure we can learn a lot from each other."/ This received an agreeable nod from Gyarados. At that point, Starmie, and Politoed joined the conversation. That began a long discussion of battle techniques.

* * *

Pikachu began pondering his conversation with Pidgeot last night. While he wasn't quick to judge Charizard, he was still unsure of why the fire Pokémon would visit Misty, a water-type trainer. He knew Charizard preferred Ash as his trainer, but couldn't help feeling curious about what was really going on?

After some deliberation, he decided to ask Ash to call Liza at the Charcific valley. Curiosity was getting to him, and he had to know what was going on. He found Ash, still asleep, while Brock was already up, cooking. Dawn was up doing as well, though she had just gotten up and was freshening up in the bathroom.

Pikachu promptly jumped on Ash, rousing him from his sleep. The trainer yawned, before smiling down at his companion. "Good morning Pikachu. You sure are excited about today, aren't you?"

"Pi…Pikachu. Pika."

"A phone call?" Ash cupped his chin in thought. He had gotten better at interpreting what Pikachu said, though certain things were harder to translate. He smiled triumphantly as Pikachu gave him an affirmative nod. "Alright then." Ash made his way to the phone and turned to Pikachu again. "Who do you want me to call?"

It took Pikachu several more minutes to tell Ash that he wanted to him to contact Liza in the Charcific valley. After Ash dialed the number, the Charizard trainer's face appeared on the screen.

"Oh…Hello Ash. Do you need Charizard for something?" Her tone carried a hint of nervousness due to Charizard not being present, though Ash failed to pick up on it.

The young trainer should his head. "No, Pikachu just wanted me to talk to you…I don't know why though." Ash just shrugged. "I guess he just wanted to know what Charizard was up to."

"Oh…Charizard has been traveling out of the valley. He decided to leave and explore for a bit before coming back. He's not here right now, and I don't really know where he is. Sorry if you didn't want that."

"No, it's fine," replied Ash. "I'm sure Charizard will come back soon. He was really enthusiastic about training there. I'm sure he'll come back." Ash turned to Pikachu. "So Pikachu, are you satisfied?"

"Pi…Pikachu."

"Alright," he turned to Liza. "Well thanks for the update. I guess I'll be going now. Bye." He hung up, and a smile came to his face. "Hey Pikachu, I just got an idea." Pikachu tilted his head curiously. "Why don't we have a little reunion? I could arrange to have Pidgeot, Charizard, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and us all together again. How does that sound?"

Pikachu's face lit up instantly. "Pika Pi Pikachu!" /_This is awesome! I can't wait! We'll have so much to catch up on!_/

Ash chuckled happily at Pikachu's response as they went outside to tell Pidgeot. When they went outside, they saw Pidgeot rallying his flock. "What's going on?" asked Ash in confusion.

"Pidgeot is taking his flock to Professor Oak's," said Brock. "He'll be back for good after that, it wouldn't be a good idea for the entire flock to travel with us."

"I agree," replied Ash before turning to his old friend. "Good luck Pidgeot. I'm planning a reunion with Squirtle, Charizard, Bulbasaur and us in the future, so I'll be looking forward to see you again."

Pidgeot chirped happily before taking off with his flock following in a "V" formation. /_Soon…I'll be back Ash. Then I will get to the bottom of what Charizard is up to._/

When Pidgeot was out of sight, Ash stopped waving and went back to the phone to contact Officer Jenny about Squirtle and Professor Oak about Bulbasaur.

* * *

Back at Cerulean city, Charizard was also getting ready to leave. He had to get back to the Charcific valley and continue his training. Misty, Psyduck, Starmie, Gyarados, and Politoed were standing outside with him, ready to wave goodbye.

"Goodbye Charizard," said Misty. She was a little upset about Charizard leaving so soon, but understood his responsibilities to Ash, and she respected that. "Come visit again okay? We'd love to have you over."

Charizard gave a friendly grunt in response. /"I'll be back. I enjoy being here too much not to."/

Gyarados let out a low growl. /"I'll look forward to sparing with you one of these days."/

/"You can count on it."/ Charizard was eager to learn about how water Pokémon fought when out of the water. The conversation he had with Misty's main fighting Pokémon had piqued his interest. They would definitely be seeing him soon.

Misty sighed as she turned to go back inside. "Well I guess nobody is going to be eating my pancakes for a while." She chuckled as she saw her Pokémon cringe at the thought of eating her pancakes.

* * *

Pidgeot and his flock arrived at Professor Oak's laboratory at night. He could see a good, well-forested spot to land somewhere in Professor Oak's backyard. Landing in a tree, he looked up to make sure his flock followed his lead. The Pidgey and Pidgeotto landed in the trees and were happy and content to stay and rest there. However, Pidgeot saw an old friend nearby and landed to talk to him.

/"Ash said you would come,"/ said Bulbasaur, smiling up at Pidgeot. /"It's good to see you again. So how have you been?"/

/"I have been doing well. It was good seeing Ash again after so many years. It's good to see you to. I heard that you've taken a leadership role here. You're a peacekeeper here, right?"/

/"I am. These Pokémon can be hard to manage sometimes, but they're really nice. The good news is that your flock probably won't disturb any of the other Pokémon. Barely anyone uses these trees."/

/"That's good. I'll be leaving now. I should be getting back to Ash now."/

/"Awe…Come on. Stay the night. Professor Oak and all of the other Pokémon will want to meet you."/

/"Alright I'll stay,"/ replied Pidgeot. /"But I'll be getting back to Ash tomorrow."/

/"Follow me,"/ said Bulbasaur enthusiastically, as he turned to show Pidgeot to Professor Oak's lab.

* * *

This chapter was mainly there to set up the plot of the story. I'll try to elaborate more on Misty and Charizard's friendship in future chapters. I have a pretty good idea of where the plot is going now, so updates might come a little faster.


	5. A New Goal

Disclaimer: I have no rights to Pokémon and do not own it.

* * *

Liza waved goodbye to Charizard as he flew out of the valley. Her smile concealed a worried look. Charizard had picked up a strange habit of leaving the valley once a week, on a regular basis. He would spend the night somewhere outside before coming back, in a noticeably better mood. She was curious about what the fire type was up to, though she was never one to pry. Her purpose here was to watch over the Charizard, not pry into their personal lives.

As he flew towards Cerulean city, Charizard felt a wave of excitement an anticipation wash over him. He wasn't just visiting for the pancakes, or to just spar with Gyarados. He enjoyed the company of the water types, but he especially enjoyed talking with Misty. Her understanding of Pokémon language far exceeded Ash's, though that was to be expected from a Gym Leader. Misty was also a very kind and soft person, even if she had an occasional temper and an irrational fear of bugs. Charizard found her presence to be soothing, and she was fast becoming his closest friend; he felt he could tell her anything, and she would listen.

As he approached the city, Charizard felt his stomach rumble. Smiling at the thought of eating Misty's pancakes, Charizard swooped down towards the city. People's heads didn't turn at his arrival like they used to. Over the past month, his regular weekly visits had got them used to seeing a Charizard flying overhead.

He saw the gym a few feet ahead, with Misty waiting outside. Apparently, his time of arrival had become predictable. The Gym Leader smiled when she saw him and waved to him. "Hello Charizard. I bet you'd like something to eat. I made you the pancakes you like so much."

Charizard grunted in response. He smiled when she led him inside and he saw the smaller water Pokémon in the pool greeting him. The gym was a far cry from when he first began visiting and Misty barely had any battle ready water types. Now her gym was fully stocked and ready to take all comers, though she made sure to take the day off when Charizard visited.

Gyarados rose up out of the water. /"Hello Charizard. Glad to see you again. I'm looking forward to another sparring match."/

/"I'll be happy to oblige you later today,"/ replied Charizard happily.

Tracy had come to Cerulean on an errand for Professor Oak. Now that he had the parcel, he decided to pay a visit to his old friend, Misty. He hadn't seen her in a while and wanted to know how she was doing. He usually kept in contact with Ash, being able to talk to him during the frequent calls to Oak's lab, but he had barely heard anything from Misty over the past two months, and was eager to see her again.

He smiled when he saw the familiar Gym entrance. He noted that the sign said it was closed for the day, which was a new development, as Misty never really took a day off before. Challenges never came everyday, so there had never been a need to set a day off. The Gym only closed when the leader was away. When he rang the doorbell, Tracy was curious about the new developments.

Misty answered the door and smiled when she saw him. "Oh. Hello Tracy. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"It sure has. How are you doing? Your Gym usually isn't closed." His voice carried a hint of curiosity.

"A friend of mine is visiting so I decided to close the Gym for the day. He visits on a regular basis, so I make it a point to take that day off." She found it hard to hide a smirk at the fact that Tracy was clueless about who she was referring.

Tracy raised an eyebrow. "Who might this friend be?" A cheeky grin came to his face. "Is it a boyfriend? I'll bet that'll make Ash jealous."

Misty's face turned red as her temper reared its ugly head. "Not it's not a boyfriend and Ash I are just friends too." She then turned around and led Tracy inside where he saw Charizard and Gyarados sparring. She smirked as Tracy's jaw dropped.

Charizard and Gyarados were locked in a test of strength, with Gyarados partially submerged and Charizard standing on a floating mat. At first it had been difficult for Charizard to apply his full strength and keep balance, but he proved to be a fast learner and had improved a great deal since then. The other water Pokémon had also helped him overcome his anxiety of water to a degree.

"That's Ash's Charizard," exclaimed Tracy, pointing to the fire type as Charizard and Gyarados broke for the day.

When Charizard saw Tracy, he smiled and leapt in front of him to greet him, letting out a friendly growl as he landed. /"It's good to see you Tracy. It's been a while. How are you?"/

Tracy was at a loss since he didn't understand Charizard very well. He could only get the gist of what a Pokémon was saying and most of his understanding was restricted to his own Pokémon.

Luckily, Misty came to the rescue, and easily interpreted for him. "Charizard said hello and how are you."

"Oh. I'm fine Charizard. It's nice to see you again, and I'm sure you've gotten much stronger by now." Charizard nodded happily, causing Tracy's smile to widen. "So what's Charizard doing all the way out here? I thought he was training at the Charcific valley."

"Charizard stops by regularly to visit. He's the friend I told you about." Misty chuckled at Tracy's shocked face. "It happened by accident though. One day, all of my strongest Pokémon were knocked out and the three-tentacruel brothers or whatever they're called attacked me. Charizard happened to be flying overhead and came down to help me, and then stayed for a few days. We've been good friends ever since and he's made a lot of friends with the water Pokémon."

"I guess life's funny that way," replied Tracy. _How ironic, that a water Pokémon trainer befriended a fire type._ "So Charizard must be training here as well with the water types."

Misty nodded and led Tracy and Charizard to the kitchen where she had fixed up some of her special pancakes. Tracy's eyes widened in shock as he saw Charizard wolfing them down.

"I…I don't believe it…He actually eats those?" Tracy had less than fond memories of the last time he ha sampled Misty's cooking. However, when Tracy turned around he froze up with fear as Misty gave him a creepy smile.

"Is there a problem Tracy?" Her voice sounded sweet, and she didn't look angry, but Tracy knew that she was menacing. She never liked having her cooking insulted by people. When Tracy shook his head, Misty said, "Want to try some of the pancakes?" She spoke in an overly sweet tone that carried a menacing undertone.

Tracy decided to quite while he was ahead. He forced a smile as nervous sweat began to form in his hair. "Um…no thank you. I just ate a while ago, so I'm not hungry at the moment."

Misty just shrugged. "Oh well. Anyway, Charizard here loves my pancakes. Right Charizard?" She smiled when he responded with a friendly grunt. "He's the only one who seems to like what I make, the other Pokémon all eat Pokémon food made by breeders that I buy in bulk."

As he and Misty sat down at the table, Tracy suddenly thought of something. "Hey Misty, does Ash know that Charizard has come here to visit?"

"I don't think he does," replied Misty. "But I don't see what the problem would be either. Its not like Charizard's training is getting messed up, and I think this is really helping Charizard out. I'm sure Ash would be happy for Charizard."

Tracy chuckled. "Ash wasn't always the most mature person. He might take this the wrong way. I mean Charizard is his trump card. He might think you're…trying to take it from him."

"I would never do that to Ash," replied Misty. "Besides, even if Charizard isn't my Pokémon, he can still be friends with me and visit me if he wants to."

"I guess that's true." Tracy knew Misty was right, but he also knew that Ash could get immature at times. He was somewhat worried about how the young trainer would react if he found out one of his oldest and best Pokémon was visiting Misty and doing some training at the Cerulean Gym.

The rest of the visit went by uneventfully. Misty and Tracy spent most of the time catching up and talking to Charizard. As he left the gym, Tracey decided against telling anyone about this, thinking that doing so would only blow it out of proportion. Besides, he would have too much work to do at Professor Oak's lab to worry about it.

* * *

"YEAH! We did it," cheered Ash as he won his third badge. Ever since Pidgeot had come back into his life, he had been on a winning streak. The experienced bird Pokémon hadn't lost his touch and was a major part of Ash's victories.

"Hey Ash, that reunion you've been planning should be coming up soon," said Brock. "We should probably find a place to set up the picnic. The Pokémon would arrive some time tomorrow so we'd better be ready."

"I can't wait to meet all of your old Pokémon," said an excited Dawn.

"I agree," replied Ash as they walked through the streets. He then spied a hill on the outskirts of town. "That looks like a good place. Why don't we check it out?" His companions agreed and soon they were making their way up towards the hill. Turning around, Ash could see that it had a good view of the town, and there was a nice forest nearby where the Pokémon could play.

"This really is a great spot," said Dawn as she looked around. Then she threw her pokeballs, releasing her Piplup, Buisel, Pachirisu, and Buneary. "So what do you guys think?" The Pokémon voiced their approval. Before spreading out over the area.

Ash decided to follow her lead and released his Pokémon, Pidgeot, Aipom, and Starly. "Hey guys, what do you think about having a picnic here tomorrow?" The Pokémon quickly voice their support before doing as Dawn's had and spreading out.

As Pidgeot perched on a large branch, Starly approached him. /"You looked awesome in that last battle Pidgeot."/ It was a young Pokémon, compared to Pidgeot who was now an adult.

/"You're improving nicely yourself,"/ replied Pidgeot politely. He turned to Starly and smiled (or at least did that bird version of a smile. /"If you want, I could teach you some advanced flying moves to help you improve."/

/"That would be great! Thank you!"/ Starly was ecstatic, but then noticed a dark cloud hanging over Pidgeot's mood. /"You seem apprehensive. Is it about the party tomorrow?"/

Pidgeot had grown fond of the younger Pokémon and didn't want him to worry. /"Don't worry, I just haven't seen all of them in such a long time. I guess I'm just a little nervous. It's nothing to be worried about."/ However, Pidgeot knew full well that it wasn't the case. Tomorrow, he would be seeing Charizard, and he would have a few things to say to the fire type.

* * *

After dinner, Charizard helped Misty put the dishes away. She seemed to be in a good mood. As she placed the last few dished in the dishwasher, Misty turned to Charizard and said, "So I guess tomorrow's the day of the reunion?"

Charizard nodded affirmatively. /"It is."/

She gave him a close-eyed smile, fearing that reveling her eyes would tell Charizard something he didn't need to know. "It must be nice…being able to see Ash again after so long. I'll bet you're happy." She chuckled lightly when Charizard nodded enthusiastically. "That's good."

However, Charizard quickly caught something in her tone. It sounded said for some reason. In the short time that he had gotten to know Misty better, Charizard realized that she was under a lot more pressure than she let on. She had to be soft and courteous to her water Pokémon, yet there were all kinds of stressors that would've caused any other person to snap. Charizard had become impressed with her self restraint, yet he sometimes worried that she was keeping her 'unpleasant' emotions bottled up so as not to ruin other people's moods.

Misty quickly recognized the look of concern Charizard was giving her. "Oh don't worry Charizard. I'm alright…I just hope you enjoy yourself tomorrow." She yawned. "I guess we'd better get to bed. Goodnight Charizard."

As she walked down the hall to her room, Charizard stared after briefly, before turning to go his own room. He knew that she was said, but he wouldn't pry. All he could ever do for her was help out whenever he was visiting and take some of the pressure off her, if only for a day of the week. Misty was never one to impose her feelings on others, yet now that he knew what her life was like, he felt that she deserved to vent.

Then an idea came to him. He couldn't force her to open up, but he might be able to help her another way. It was obvious that she missed Ash. If Ash felt the same, then maybe he could 'encourage' him to visit Cerulean Gym. Charizard fell asleep with a new goal in mind.

* * *

It's about time I updated, and I hope I did a good job at the end with developing Charizard and Misty further. Also, on a side note, I think the anime strongly hints at Ash and Misty having a special bond beyond anything between him and Dawn or May.


	6. The Reunion Party

Disclaimer: I have no rights to Pokémon and do not own it.

* * *

When Charizard returned to the Charcific valley, he saw Liza standing outside, looking anxious. He knew that she was now able to accurately predict when he would leave and come back, but it was still unusual for her to be waiting for him. Charizard landed in front of her, and she let out a sigh of relief.

"I was hoping you'd come back soon," said Liza who was now smiling. "Ash contacted me earlier today. He said that he's planning a reunion with all of his old Pokémon and you're invited too. He gave me the location so you should be able to get there easily."

Charizard grunted and gave her a happy nod. /_I can't wait to see Ash, Pikachu, and the others again. Maybe I can ask Ash about Misty…assuming he's able to understand me as well as she can._ / Following Liza into the valley Charizard spent some time training before she showed him where the reunion would be.

Misty was outside, having returned from a morning walk, when she heard a familiar roar in the sky. _That's odd; Charizard doesn't come back this early._ Even if it was an unexpected surprise, Misty was always glad to see Charizard. He was like a reminder of Ash and though it sounded absurd, his frequent visits gave her the sense that Ash still cared about her and was showing it through Charizard's actions.

When Charizard landed in front of her, he had one thing in kind. During their travels in the Orange Islands, he had seen various hints that the two cared for each other. He would soon depart for the Sinnoh region, and inviting Misty to come along would be a nice addition to it.

"So Charizard, what brings you here so early?" asked Misty cheerily.

/"Ash is having a reunion of all his old Pokémon. I was wondering if you'd like to come too."/ Charizard smiled at her expectantly, but his expression changed when she produced a crestfallen smile.

"I'm sorry Charizard," replied Misty with a sad smile. "I have to stay here at the gym. My sisters are away, and I can't say I'd trust them to care for all the Pokémon. I wish I could go…I mean I want to see Ash again, but my responsibility's here come first." Charizard gave a sad, but understanding look and grunted in response. Smiling at her new friend Misty said, "You go on and enjoy yourself for both of us."

Charizard gave a somewhat sad nod and roared goodbye before flying off towards the Sinnoh region. Since Misty couldn't leave the gym in the foreseeable future, he would have to get Ash to come back to Cerulean city to see her. It would take him several hours to reach Sinnoh, and he suspected that the party would've already started when he arrived.

* * *

It was now around noon, and the party was in full swing.

Pidgeot was perched up in a tree after briefly talking with Bulbasaur and Squirtle, surveying the party. However, its true goal was to catch sight of Charizard. The fire Pokémon had yet to arrive and Pidgeot was curious about how its old teammate had turned out. Being unaware that Charizard was now obedient, and after seeing him obey Misty, he could only assume that he had betrayed Ash.

Starly hopped onto a nearby branch and got the larger bird's attention. /"Hello Pidgeot, what are you up to?"/

/"I'm just waiting for Charizard to arrive. I'd like to have a word with him."/ He tried not to sound agitated so as not to alarm Starly.

Starly, however, was able to pick up on the older bird Pokémon's feelings more easily than most, having become close friends with him. /"Are you angry with Charizard for something?"/

/"I suppose it's something like that,"/ replied Pidgeot. /"Let's just say I saw Charizard doing something that I didn't approve of before I came here to Sinnoh."/ After seeing Starly's somewhat worried look, Pidgeot added, /"but Pikachu and I will handle it, so there's no need to worry."/

There was a sense of finality in the answer, and when the two birds noted a large shape approaching from the sky, Starly left Pidgeot to handle the situation and joined the other Sinnoh Pokémon who were gathered around Squirtle and Bulbasaur, listening to story's of past adventures.

Pidgeot quickly identified the approaching figure as Charizard. /_Knowing him, he'd want to check out the food before lying down and falling asleep. He'll be antisocial and refuse to socialize with anyone, especially the new Pokémon, like the arrogant jerk he is._/ Pidgeot was so confident in his out of date character analysis that he almost fell out of the tree from shock when Charizard gave everyone a brief greeting and Ash an affectionate flamethrower to the face.

The younger Pokémon, were all somewhat intimidated by the large dragon, but quickly overcame their fear upon seeing how calm the older Pokémon were. Contrary to Pidgeot's prediction, Charizard didn't make it a point to pick on the younger Pokémon. Off course, Pidgeot was right that the next thing Charizard did was check out the food, but even that could simply amount to his hunger from travelling a long distance.

Starly gave Pidgeot a brief glance before looking back at the large fire type who was now getting reacquainted with Pikachu. The young bird knew that there was probably some underlying tension between Charizard and Pidgeot that the others, save Pikachu, weren't aware of. Starly was curious about what Pidgeot had witnessed before it came to Kanto, but it's instinct told it to leave the subject in Pikachu's hands.

/"So how was your journey,"/ asked Pikachu as he and Charizard stood near a large picnic clothes covered in containers of Pokémon food. /"It must have been tough flying across an entire region to get here."/

/"It wasn't that bad,"/ replied Charizard casually. /"Sure it can get a bit tiring, but I only needed to stop over for a few minutes at a time before I was ready to continue."/

Pikachu knew his response would probably open the door to an argument, but he had to get to the bottom of what Pidgeot had told him. Taking a deep breath, and briefly looking at Pidgeot to confirm that he was watching, Pikachu spoke up. /"Did you happen to stop by Cerulean City on your way here?"/

Charizard was taken aback by the electric mouse's comment and his eyes widened in shock. His reply was a whisper. /"Do you know something?"/ Pikachu motioned for him to follow, and then did the same for Pidgeot who had been watching them from a tree. Charizard and Pidgeot both followed Pikachu a little ways into the forest, as discreetly as possible, until they reached a clearing. /"So what's this about?"/ asked Charizard after a brief pause.

Pidgeot spoke up before Pikachu had a chance to answer. /"I saw you at Cerulean city while I was flying around Kanto with my flock. I know that you've allied yourself with Misty now. I always knew that you thought you were too good for Ash, but I never thought you'd go to Misty."/

Pikachu face-palmed while Charizard's mouth gaped as if he'd witnessed something unbelievable. However, his face straightened up into a serious glare as he thought of a reply. /"That…I wasn't battling as her Pokémon. She was in danger, so I swooped in a helped her out, and for your information, I DO obey Ash now. I would never betray him, even if Misty's also good friend to me."/

Pikachu perked up when he heard Charizard refer to Misty as a friend. /"When Ash called to tell you about the reunion, Liza told him that you weren't around. Were you visiting Cerulean? Have you been going back there over and over again?"/

/"Yes."/ After catching sight of Pidgeot's somewhat offended look, Charizard's flame grew slightly larger. /"Look, if Ash can travel around with out me, and catch new Pokémon, then it's only fair that I should be allowed to travel as well and make friends of my own!"/

/"I'm inclined to disagree,"/ replied Pidgeot angrily. /"A Pokémon must stay where its trainer can reach it when necessary, or it must follow whatever parting orders its trainer gave it. Going off on your own was irresponsible. Ash is more likely to need you than you are to need him, so the principle doesn't work in reverse."/

As they glared at each other, Pikachu took a step back from the two larger Pokémon. It wasn't that he was scared of them, but he really couldn't fault either one on their opinions. It was easy to side with Charizard and his ideas of freedom, but Pidgeot's argument based on loyalty made sense as well.

"Hey Charizard, Pidgeot, Pikachu!" Ash's voice carried through the trees, indicating that he was nearby. "Hey guys, where are you? Brock says it's lunchtime. When he emerged into the clearing, all signs of an impending argument had disappeared. While Charizard and Pidgeot refused to make eye contact, it didn't look like they were at each other's throats. Ash faced them with his hand akimbo, and an eyebrow raised, indicated his cluelessness about the previous situation. "Hey guys, what were you doing all the way out here?"

/"Just talking,"/ replied Pikachu. To the electric rodent's relief, his trainer didn't press the issue further. Taking his place on Ash's shoulder, he briefly looked back anxiously at his two larger friends. They were both following, and thankfully, the tension between them wasn't overwhelmingly apparent.

When they rejoined the others, Ash went straight to the food, while Pidgeot landed near Bulbasaur and Squirtle, and with Pikachu being pulled away by Dawn's Buneary, Charizard was left to his own devices. He noticed Ash's backpack lying against a tree. Remembering that Misty had told him about giving Ash her Mini-Misty lure shortly before his battle against Brandon, Charizard decided to go and retrieve the it. It didn't take long for him to root it out. Locating Ash, who was now talking to Brock, Charizard made a beeline for him, with the lure in hand.

Ash was talking to Brock about what they would do after the party, when Brock motioned for him to turn around. Doing so, Ash came face to face with Charizard. "Um…Hey Charizard, did you need something?" Having to think on his feet, Charizard decided to start by giving Ash the lure. His trainer took it, and eyed it before looking back at Charizard, utterly perplexed. "Do you want to go fishing Charizard?"

Before the fire type could face palm, or hit Ash with a flamethrower, Brock interjected. "Ash I think it's trying to tell you something about Misty."

Staring thoughtfully at the lure, Ash turned back to Charizard. "Is it true…Charizard? Are you trying to tell me something about Misty."

Charizard nodded vigorously, and mentally thanked Brock. However, he quickly realized that Ash was slow when it came to subtle hints. /"Go visit her,"/ he growled, hoping to get his message across. Unfortunately, Ash didn't completely get the message, so Charizard decided to leave him to think on it. The message was bound to hit him someday.

* * *

With the party coming to a close, Charizard decided to help put some of the supplies away. Blowing small flames on the now empty pots and pans helped sterilize them after Brock had washed all of the significant chunks off. Once he had helped Brock Charizard said a brief goodbye to Ash, who still hadn't fully figured out what he was saying.

As he flew away, and out of Pidgeot's sightlines, Charizard changed course so that he was now heading towards Cerulean City. He wanted to see Misty, and tell her everything that had happened. Even if his friendship with Pidgeot was now as good as wrecked, he had still managed to enjoy the party for both their sakes. The sun was now setting, but as he moved south, night didn't seem to come as fast. He was sure that he could make it to Cerulean with out issue.

* * *

There's been a lot going on in my life, but I was finally able to update this. I know it might've been disappointing that I didn't include any major interactions with Bulbasaur, and Squirtle, but this story isn't really about them. Anyway, I hope this chapter was up to par.


	7. Return to Kanto

Disclaimer: I have no rights to Pokémon and do not own it.

* * *

Misty was in a cheerful mood as she finished her chores for the day. The sun was starting to set outside and that meant that most of the water Pokémon were getting ready to sleep. She currently stood in the kitchen, watching the timer on the microwave, waiting somewhat impatiently for the beeping that signaled that her frozen dinner was ready.

Once it was ready, she carefully took the plastic tray out of the microwave, leaning back so as to avoid a face full of steam. Just as she was about to start eating, Psyduck came running in, followed by Charizard, who looked somewhat weary from his journey from Sinnoh. Misty's mod brightened at the sight of the fire type, which often seemed to represent a part of Ash for her. Ash had her handkerchief and her mini-Misty lure, and she had Ash's Charizard visiting her, in a way, it was like they both had a part of each other now.

"Hello Charizard," said Misty happily. "How was the reunion?"

/"I enjoyed it,"/ replied Charizard in a seemingly happy tone, though it lacked enthusiasm. Psyduck had left the room to go to bed, leaving him and Misty alone. He saw Misty looking at him as if she knew something had gone wrong. "Okay…the party went okay for the most part, but I had a falling out with Pidgeot."/

"Why would you have a fight with Pidgeot or any of Ash's Pokémon? I thought you guys were all friends." Misty knew that Charizard could get a bit arrogant at times, but his cockiness had diminished greatly since he started obeying Ash. While this news wouldn't have surprised her with the old Charizard, now it seemed completely out of the ordinary.

/"Pidgeot saw me saving you from those thugs when I first came to Cerulean City. He's become a bit paranoid, and thinks that I'm betraying Ash."/ Misty gasped. /"Pikachu knows as well, but he seems to be taking it more reasonably. I just can't understand why Pidgeot thinks I can't have my own friends outside of Ash. It's only fair since he gets to travel around without me."/

"I agree," replied Misty, "but Pidgeot is probably living in the past. He probably hasn't gotten used to all the changes and probably still expects you to be arrogant and disobedient towards Ash." Smiling, she reached out and stroked Charizard's head affectionately. "Don't worry, I'm sure you two will become friends again eventually."

Charizard nodded and gave a thankful grunt, which seemed to quickly lighten the mood. However, a few seconds the later, the fire type felt the overpowering urge to yawn. This elicited a chuckle from Misty ho knew that many Pokémon liked to sleep earlier. "I think you should get to bed Charizard. You're probably tired from your journey. You can tell me all about the reunion tomorrow."

/"Alright then, good night,"/ replied Charizard before turned around to go find the room he usually slept in.

* * *

As he walked alongside Brock and Dawn towards their next destination, Ash held the mini-Misty lure in his hand, staring at it intently. If the road weren't so even, he would've probably tripped by now. _What was Charizard trying to tell me? Why would he tell me anything about Misty, it's not like they've ever been particularly close so…what's going on?_

"Hey Ash," called Brock, as he and Dawn stopped walking.

_Well Misty is a water Pokémon trainer…was it something to do with water? Maybe Charizard wanted to go fishing or maybe he wanted to lean how to swim._

"Ash!" Brock's heightened tone didn't do anything to break Ash's thoughts.

_What if…what if Charizard knows something about Misty…I mean I haven't seen him in a while so who knows what he's been up to? If I only I could understand him better…Ah! I wish Misty were here! She was always helpful with these things._

"PIKAPI!" "ASH LOOK OUT!" Pikachu leapt off Ash's shoulder as the Pokémon trainer finally came back to reality, though he was still moving forward. However, moments later, he collided with a tree, and unfortunately, that tree had Kakuna hanging from it.

Ash gasped and backed away slowly, hoping the Kakuna hadn't noticed him. Unfortunately, moments later, all their eyes were on him, and the trees began to shake as a familiar buzzing noise reached his ears. "Guys…we'd better run," said Ash sheepishly before he, Brock, Dawn, and Pikachu ran fled the area, followed by a swarm of angry beedrill.

Luckily, their running took them in the direction they were headed anyway. As they neared town, the beedrill fell back, leaving them in peace. Ash can co. stopped running and tried to catch their breath. Without the threat of the beedrill to distract them, Ash turned his attention back to his mini-Misty lure.

Brock sensed that something was wrong with Ash. The younger man seemed unusually preoccupied, especially with that lure. "What's wrong Ash? Is it something to do with Misty?"

Dawn, who didn't know much about Misty, was also curious, but quickly replaced her concern with gleeful smile. "You miss her, don't you Ash?" Ash gasped, and turned a light shade of crimson, but quickly shook it off and gave Dawn and the now grinning Brock, a defiant look.

"It's not just about Misty," replied Ash. "I'm just curious about what Charizard was trying to tell me. He handed me this lure during the reunion. He was definitely trying to tell me something…I wish I could understand him properly."

"Maybe it does have something to do with Misty," said Brock in a thoughtful tone. "Perhaps Charizard knows something about her and was trying to tell you about it. Still…it's odd. Why and how would Charizard know anything about Misty?"

"I'd better call Liza and ask her about Charizard," said Ash before running into the town to find the Pokémon center. At his pace he was able to find the center and was in the lobby after about a minute. "Nurse Joy I need to use your phone!" The startled Pokémon nurse simply pointed over to the side where there were several phones lined up together.

Brock and Dawn entered the center a few seconds later, and while Dawn went over to see what Ash was up to, Brock tried to profess his love for Nurse Joy before collapsing in pain from Crogunk's poison jab.

Liza's concerned face appeared on the screen, and Ash automatically knew that something was wrong with Charizard. "Hey Liza, I was hoping you'd tell me what Charizard's up to." _Liza seems shifty…there must be something up._

"Ash…I'm sorry, but I don't know what Charizard's been doing. He's been acting strange for a while know." Ash's interest seemed piqued, something had obviously happened at the reunion, and Charizard hadn't returned to the valley yet. "A while ago, Charizard said he wanted to go out and explore the world. Ever since then, he's been coming and going regularly. Don't get me wrong he still trains. It's more of a weekend vacation thing, and he comes back in a much better mood."

"So you're saying that Charizard just goes out for a little while and parties or something?" Liza nodded affirmatively. "Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with you letting him go, I'm just curious, that's all. You see, at the reunion, Charizard was trying to tell me something." Ash then held the lure up for Liza, who immediately recognized its resemblance to Misty. "Charizard showed this to me when he tried to tell me something. I was thinking it was something to do with fishing. How about you? I'm sure you're much better at understanding Charizard than I am."

"Ash…I don't think that has anything to do with fishing," replied Liza uncertainly. "I think it was something to do with your friend Misty. You should probably call and ask her about this."

"Okay, I will, and thanks for the help." Ash finished his conversation, and turned to Dawn, and Brock, who had had too much back pain to try and smooth talk Liza. "I guess that settles it. We'll have to talk to Misty."

"But it will be night in Cerulean," replied Brock. "You'll have to wait a while to talk with her. She'll probably be sleeping now."

"I still don't get that time zone thing," replied Ash as he stared out of the clear doors of the Pokémon center. It was only sunset in their area. Then an idea came to mind. "Hey I know. The Sinnoh league and the Grand Festival are a ways off. Why don't we go back to Kanto and see Misty ourselves?"

"I don't know Ash," replied the levelheaded Brock. "It'll set us back quite a bit. And you might need all the time you can get to train to beat Paul. I don't think you'll be able to rely on Pidgeot's power forever. You caught him off guard back then, but he'll probably be ready the next time around."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," replied Ash somberly before a wave of confidence came over him. "I'll just make up for it by training double time later, right Pikachu?" The electric mouse responded enthusiastically to its trainer. "Right, so why don't we head back to Pallet town Brock. The Sinnoh league and Grand Festival are a ways off."

"Yeah Brock," replied Dawn. "I really want to know what's going on, and I can afford to miss a few contests."

Brock sighed, he everyone in the group was pressuring him. "Fine, we'll go to Pallet Town, and then to Cerulean City. However, we'll have to set a limit to how long we stay. How does one week sound?"

"I'm fine with that," replied Ash, as Dawn and Pikachu nodded in agreement. "So how are we going to get there? Is there a train to Kanto?"

"As a matter of fact, there is," replied Brock without looking up from the town map. "There a train station here, and it will eventually stop at Viridian city…come to think of it, Viridian seems like the gateway to the world. People go there to get from Kanto, to Jhoto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. Anyway, why are we heading to Pallet Town? If you want to see Misty, we should probably head directly to Cerulean when we reach Viridian City."

"I just thought that Charizard might be going to Professor Oak's lab. I would make sense since all his old friends would be there and Professor Oak would know how to take care of him."

"Wow, so we get to see Professor Oak as well," said Dawn enthusiastically. "This is amazing! I've always wanted to see Kanto, and I can't wait to hear Professor Oak's poetry first hand!" Ash and Brock couldn't help chuckling at her enthusiasm of Oak's poetry.

It didn't take long for them to reach the Pokémon center, and Nurse Joy gave their Pokémon a checkup before telling them where the train station was. Once at the station, Brock purchased three tickets for a train that would make a round trip all the way to Viridian City. From there they would have to walk towards Pallet Town.

* * *

I originally wanted this chapter to be longer, but I guess that it would;ve meant dragging the scene with Ash out longer than it needed to be. Sad to say, but this story might be approaching its end, though that won;t happen for a few more chapters. It was never meant to be a very long story.


	8. Return to Kanto Part 2

Disclaimer: I have no rights to Pokémon and do not own it.

* * *

Ash felt somewhat impatient. The train ride was taking longer than he imagined, and while he knew a trip from Sinnoh to Kanto couldn't be short, even by train, he had at least hoped it wouldn't be an overnighter. Dawn and Pikachu had dozed off and were currently lying in the top bunks of their sleeper car, while Brock was reading quietly in his lower bunk bed. This left Ash alone to his own thoughts as he lay awake in his own bed, trying to go to sleep so he wouldn't get bored.

Even though he new that he'd be seeing her in a few days, Ash realized that missed Misty a lot more than he had previously thoughts. It had been manageable during his journey thus far because the Sinnoh league had kept him preoccupied, but now he was thinking about her again, and as his anticipation at seeing her grew every moment, it only became worse. He had to see her.

Then his thoughts surrounding her began to wander, perhaps because he was starting to get tired. What if she'd moved on from him? Not moved on as in forgotten him, but what if she didn't miss him as much as he missed her. What if she had…boyfriend. Ash slapped her own forehead, to shake himself out of that train of thought. Why would he care if she had a boyfriend? Wouldn't he be happy for her if that were the case? At least they would always be friends.

Brock looked over at the young man with a sympathetic expression. "Hey Ash, you should really get some sleep. There's not point trying to stay awake the entire time."

"I know Brock," replied Ash before pulling the covers fully over him. Perhaps Brock was right, sleep would do him good. However, Ash was worried that his dreams wouldn't offer him any respite from his inner turmoil. Closing his eyes, he tried to be as still as possible, and didn't know when or how he eventually fell asleep.

* * *

Misty had gone to bed early today. Charizard had improved in terms of being able to feed the water Pokémon dinner, and he and Misty's other Pokémon had offered to let her have a break while they finished up the chores for the day.

Charizard had become good friends with the water Pokémon, even though he was a fire type. He and Gyarados had become almost liken brothers through their friendly sparring. Just as Charizard finished hand feeding the young Goldeen and Magikarp, Psyduck waddled over to him along with Staryu and Starmie.

/"You know she misses him,"/ said Starmie knowingly. It was the oldest and by far the wisest of Misty's Pokémon. /"In fact, part of the reason why she's become so fond of you is because you remind her of him."/

/"You're talking about Ash?"/ Psyduck nodded since Starmie wasn't able to. Charizard didn't find it too surprising that he represented Ash in some way to her, but until now, he hadn't been very observant when it came to Ash and Misty's relationship. /"I tried to get Ash to come here,"/ he replied. /"However, I'm not sure if he understood me correctly."/

/"Misty says that ash is smarter than he looks,"/ replied Psyduck.

/"You should have a little more faith in your trainer,"/ said Staryu. /"I'm sure he'll get the message eventually. We just came here to thank you on behalf of all the water Pokémon here for cheering Misty up."/

/"Cheer her up? Why? Was Misty sad about something?"/ Charizard was now some what concerned at Staryu's comment. Misty had always seemed neutral, if not happy whenever he'd visited.

/"Misty didn't like coming back to the Gym,"/ replied Starmie. /"Unlike her sisters, who could take turns battling, she had to rely on herself entirely, especially since her sisters kept leaving on tour. Aside from that, she wasn't the kind of girl who enjoyed being saddled to her job without anything else to do. Her sisters could always pass the time with their water ballet, but for her, life had become an interval between gym battles and the occasional visits from friends."/

/"Ash probably misses her too,"/ mused Charizard, /"but he's had an adventure to distract him and he has humans friends with him all the time."/

Charizard went to sleep soon after his conversation with the three water Pokémon. He found it much easier to sleep than Ash currently did, but he also had his own worries. If Ash came and found him here, how would he react? Would he act the same way as Pidgeot or be more levelheaded like Pikachu? There was also the issue of Ash's friends, Brock and Dawn, and what they would have to say about this, but Charizard really couldn't care less whether or not they approved of this. As far as he was concerned, this was between him, Ash and Misty, and nobody else had much say in the matter.

* * *

The train arrived at Viridian around breakfast time and after a quick meal at the station, Ash and co. went to a pay phone to let everyone know they were coming. Ash first called his mom to let her know that they were on their way. He didn't need to contact professor Oak since he figured his mother would already be spreading the news around town.

"Well its done," said Ash as he hung up the phone. "So Dawn, do you want to see a bit of Viridian before we go to Pallet Town? This is your first time in Kanto."

Dawn shook her head. "Maybe after we finish this. I'll have plenty of time to see Viridian later. Right now, I just want to get to the bottom of this mystery."

"I guess we'll head to Pallet Town," finished Brock. "Since we're already packed, we should just leave right now. Just make sure all the Pokémon are alright first."

It didn't take long for them to set off for Pallet town and the journey wasn't as long as they'd thought. Perhaps it seemed shorter to Ash and Brock because the way was familiar to them. They arrived at Pallet Town in the evening when people would have tea or relaxing after a day's work.

"We should stop at Professor Oak's," said Ash as they entered the outskirts of the town. "We should probably rest there and we can call mom and she'll come over."

"I agree," moaned Dawn. "My feet are aching. I've never walked this much in one sitting."

"It usually takes beginner trains more than one day to get from Pallet Town to Viridian city," replied Ash. He led the way up to the Oak's front door and knocked. He heard someone inside say 'coming,' taking that to be Tracy.

Tracy opened the door a few seconds later and his face lit up upon seeing Ash. "Welcome back Ash. Your mom called earlier and said that you'd be coming here. Hi Brock, hi Pikachu. It's nice to see all of you again." He then noticed the purple haired girl standing behind them. "And you must be Dawn, it's really nice to meet you. I'm Tracey, Professor Oak's assistant."

"Nice to meet you too," replied Dawn politely. "So where's professor Oak?"

"The professor's out back with the Pokémon," said Tracey. "By the way Ash, your Bulbasaur's been telling the other Pokémon about your reunion. They're all anxious to see you again, especially Bayleef."

Ash chuckled nervously at the thought of the overly affectionate grass type. "I just hope they haven't missed me too much. I'll go say hello to all of them now." Ash walked past Tracey into the lab, Brock decided to go with him.

Tracey turned to Dawn. "So Dawn, would you like a tour of the lab."

"Yes please," she replied. "However, I'd really like to hear Professor Oak's Poetry. I hear it all the time on the radio." Dawn was beginning to get really excited, which made Tracey somewhat nervous.

Later, Ash, Brock, Dawn, Professor Oak, and Tracey were having tea. Ash's mom had called earlier to say that she'd come over after her work was done. "So Ash, why did you suddenly decide to come here? I thought you'd be more focused on the Sinnoh league," said Professor Oak insightfully.

"I actually came here to see if Charizard's stopped by. You see, when he came to the reunion, he tried to tell me something, but I can't figure it out." Ash pulled out the Misty lure and showed it to them. "I think it had something to do with Misty which is why we came to Kanto to see her, and we thought we'd stop by here for a little while."

"Actually, I did see Charizard in Cerulean City," said Tracey in realization. "It was strange, because I didn't think a fire type would ever want to stay at the Cerulean Gym." This caught everyone's attention, and the looks they gave Tracey told him that they wanted to hear more. "Well I…All I know was that Charizard and Misty have become friends. Maybe Charizard thinks that you should visit Misty."

"That would make sense," added Brock. "Misty probably misses you, I remember talking to her when you were in Hoenn and she seemed somewhat worried about you. That might have been partly why I decided to follow you there. If Charizard's become friends with Misty and visits her, then he probably knows about how much she misses you."

Ash's face scrunched into a thoughtful expression. _I wonder how this happened in the first place._ "I think that I should talk to Misty. Then we might be able to get down to the bottom of this."

"Ash!" Everyone's eyes turned to Delia, who had just arrived. She ran over to her son, but when Ash got ready for a hug, he was surprised and somewhat disappointed when she instead picked Pikachu off his shoulder and hugged him instead. "It's nice to see you again Pikachu," she said. "So how are all of you? Ash have you been changing your underwear regularly?"

"MOM!" Ash's face was now flush with embarrassment. Everyone except Dawn knew better than to chuckle, and Ash sent her a death glare. "It's not funny!"

"So Ash, how is the Sinnoh league coming," asked Delia.

"Its going well mom," replied Ash. "I actually came here to see Misty, but we wanted to stop by here first."

Delia now had stars in her eyes. "My little Ash has finally grown up," she squealed, causing Brock, Tracey and Professor Oak to chuckle quietly. "I always knew you and Misty would make a good couple." That comment floored Ash and put a devious grin on Dawn's face.

"MOM!" Ash's face was not beet red, partly due to frustration and embarrassment. "It's not like that! It's just that my Charizard tried to tell me something in Sinnoh, and I think it has something to do with Misty. I just think that I should visit her."

"If you say so Ash," she replied before giving him a quick wink. "I think you should stay over night. I'll drive you to Cerulean tomorrow."

"Thanks mom," replied Ash happily.

* * *

Misty was getting ready for bed when she heard the phone ringing. _That's odd, why would someone call me now?_ She went to answer it and was shocked when Ash's face appeared on the screen. "Ash?"

"Hi Misty," said Ash with a tone that reflected a suppressed excitement. "Um…I was calling to say that I'll be visiting you tomorrow, and Brock and our new friend Dawn will be coming too." He couldn't help smiling as Misty began to grin broadly.

"That's great Ash," replied Misty, though she tried not to sound too excited. "It's about time you came by here. I'd love to see you again and hear about all your adventures in Sinnoh."

"Yeah, I'll be sure to tell you all about it. By the way, is Charizard there?"

Misty was taken aback by that comment. _He knows? I guess Tracey must've told him._ "Yes Charizard's here. He came here a while ago when he was out exploring. He's been training with the water Pokémon." _I hope Ash doesn't think Charizard's been goofing off._

"Can I talk to him?"

"Actually he's sleeping right now. He's been a great help around the gym when he's here, and he's probably tired out. But you can see him tomorrow when you come. I'll tell him you're coming."

"Okay. Well I think you should know that Charizard's the reason I decided to come here. He was trying to tell me something when he visited me in Sinnoh and I think it had something to do with you," Ash held up the lure she'd given him. "He gave me this so I think he wanted me to come see you."

Misty smiled warmly at that revelation. "I'll be sure to thank Charizard tomorrow. So I guess I'd better get going to bed. I'll close the gym down to make sure we have the whole day together."

"Alright, goodbye for now," replied Ash. "Oh and I like it when you have your hair down like that. Much better than the ponytail." Ash hung up before she could reply, snickering to himself until Brock put a hand on his shoulder.

"That was really smooth, squeezing in that last comment." He eyes Ash with mischievous glint in his eyes.

An annoyed Ash shrugged his hand off. "I told you already, it's not like that." Then he stormed off to get ready for bed.

* * *

I know that it's been a while since I last updated and honestly, I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update since I have to worry about the real world now. Anyway, I think I'll focus on this story until it's done and update the others later.

Also, I wasn't sure if I'd written Ash properly. I'm not really sure what kind of mannerisms he'd have.


	9. Return to Kanto Part 3

Disclaimer: I have no rights to Pokémon and do not own it.

* * *

"Good morning Charizard," said Misty in a chipper tone as the fire type lumbered into the kitchen. The red dragon nodded and smiled before going to the table with a tall stack of pancakes was waiting for him. "Thank you," said Misty more softly, catching Charizard's attention. "You were able to get Ash to come visit me. I've missed him so much."

/"I was worried that he wouldn't understand what I was trying to tell him,"/ he replied before wolfing down a few pancakes. /"I'm looking forward to him coming here too. Maybe he'll realize that he should come visit more often."/

Misty walked over the Charizard and gave him a hug. "You're a good friend Charizard. I'm glad you came to Cerulean City. Even if Ash keeps coming to visit me, I still hope you'll visit like you always do."

Charizard nodded, smiling warmly at her. /"I will. I might even battle for you if you feel like it."/ Misty chuckled at that comment.

* * *

Ash tried to keep his breathing under control as he sat in the back of his mom's car with Dawn, while Brock sat in the front seat holding a map. Dawn turned to him with an arched eyebrow. "Are you sure you're alright Ash? It sounds like you're hyper ventilating."

"I'm fine Dawn," replied Ash in an annoyed tone. "I told you already, I'm just a little anxious."

"A little anxious?" Dawn was not convinced. "Face it. You haven't seen her in ages and your worried about what she'll think of you."

"That must be why you took extra time to fix up your hair," joked Delia with a chuckle, causing Ash to mumble incoherently. "Don't be embarrassed dear. It's quite natural."

Ash merely rolled his eyes and remained quiet for the rest of the ride. As they passed through Pewter city Brock realized that he wanted to visit his family too, so he asked Delia to let him out and said he'd meet them on their way back.

It took another hour for them to get through Mt. moon and reach Cerulean City. Luckily, it was only the afternoon so they would still have a lot of time before they had to go back. When the car stopped in the Gym's parking lot, Ash was the first one out, and made no attempt at hiding his excitement at finally being free to walk around.

"You must be really excited about seeing Misty," said Dawn as she noted Ash's excitement.

"Actually I'm glad to finally be out of the car," replied Ash.

/"Come on, let's go in already,"/ said Pikachu before jumping off his trainer's shoulder and running toward the gym's main gate.

Ash chuckled before running after his Pokémon. Dawn and Delia hung back, being content to follow at a significantly slower pace. Pikachu reached the door first and leapt up to ring the doorbell. Ash reached the door just as a person on the other side opened it. His breathing quickened as Misty's form slowly came into view.

When here eyes landed on him, her mouth instantly curved into a smile. "Oh, you're here! Hello Ash," she then knelt down in front of the small electric mouse at her feet. "Hi Pikachu." She then picked Pikachu up and hugged him closely. "It's so nice to see you again." The electric mouse squealed joyfully in response.

"Hey what about me? Don't I get a hug too?" Misty simply gave Ash a devious grin in response before stepping aside. A moment later, a blast of fire sailed past her, nailing Ash, but not causing any significant burns. When he got up, he smiled at the red dragon that now stood next to Misty. "Hey Charizard, it's nice to see you again."

Charizard roared happily in response before turning to Pikachu. /"I'm glad he got the message,"/ he grunted.

/"I think you did a good think"/ replied Pikachu. /"I'm sure Pidgeot will understand."/

Charizard's mood darkened for an instant at the mention of Pidgeot, but he quietly put it aside. This was a happy moment and it wasn't worth ruining its mood. /_I suppose it would take time. I'll get over it,_ / thought Charizard as Ash and Pikachu walked past him into the Gym.

"Wow, this Gym looks even better from the front," said Dawn as she and Delia finally made it to the front entrance. She then noticed Charizard and Misty waiting for them at the entrance. "Oh hi, you must be Misty!" She extended her hand for the redhead to shake. "I'm Dawn's and it's really nice to meet you."

Misty gladly shook the younger girl's hand. "It's nice to meet you too Dawn. Please come in, and make yourself comfortable. Charizard and I prepared snacks for al of you, but Ash might eat them all so you'd better hurry."

"Gotcha," replied Dawn before going inside, followed by Charizard.

"Misty, it's so nice to see you again," said Mrs. Ketchum as she came up to the redhead and enveloped her in a hug.

"Nice to see you too Mrs. Ketchum," replied Misty happily as she returned the hug. "So how have you been doing?"

"I've been doing fine Misty," replied Delia cheerily as they began walking inside. "Mr. Mime has been a real help around the house, and Professor Oak and Tracey visit regularly so I'm well taken care of." As they approached the kitchen where Ash, Dawn, Charizard and Pikachu were, Delia abruptly stopped and pulled Misty aside, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I know that running the gym by yourself has been hard, but you're more upset about not being able to see Ash, aren't you?"

Misty gave the older woman a sad smile. "You saw right the through me. Yes…I guess I didn't know how much he meant to me until Nurse Joy told me that my bike had been fixed."

"You're more than welcome to come back with us to Pallet Town. It would be nice to have you over again, and you'll get to see Ash for a little longer." Delia winked after adding that last part, causing Misty to blush slightly and smile sweetly.

"Thanks Mrs. Ketchum. You know after my mom died, I felt that I didn't really have anyone I could really look up to like that. But now, you've become sort of like a mom to me."

"Well then, you can call me mom if you want," replied Delia happily. "I expect you'll be doing that eventually anyway," she added with another wink.

Misty chuckled in response. "Alright…mom. Well I guess we should join the others. Ash and I have a lot of catching up to do, and I'd like to talk to Dawn as well."

Ash was busy stuffing his pace while Dawn ate at a more modest pace. Pikachu had talked briefly with Charizard before going around the gym to talk to Misty's other Pokémon.

"So Charizard, have you been getting along well with Misty," asked Ash as he swallowed his latest mouthful of food. Charizard nodded. "It's weird though. I didn't think a fire type like you would want to spend time in a water Pokémon gym." Charizard chuckled at the irony of the situation.

"Hey Ash," said Misty as she and Delia entered the kitchen. "Do you like the food?" He nodded in response, as his mouth was too full for him to speak. "Good. I'd like to here about all your adventures." Ash nodded, but due to his mouth being full, he wouldn't be speaking any time soon.

Dawn rolled her eyes as Ash slowly chewed the food in his overstuffed mouth. "Since he's unable to talk," she said in a somewhat annoyed tone, "I guess I'll start things off." Dawn explained the basic outline of their Sinnoh adventure, saving some of the more specific story to Ash. She told Misty about how Pidgeot's arrival had triggered a winning streak and put Ash ahead of schedule in terms of badges, as well as about Paul, the arrogant and cruel Pokémon trainer who seemed to have taken Gary's place as his chief rival.

Misty listened intently, determined to soak in as many details as possible. This was far more interesting than her time at the gym, aside from Charizard's visits which were always fun. Soon, Ash was finished eating and began telling Misty about all the new Pokémon he caught. He also told her about all the new Pokémon he had caught.

"So now that you know, what happened during our adventures," said Dawn, "Why don't you show us around the gym. I've heard all about the aquarium here and the pool that your sisters do their show in."

"Off course," replied Misty. "Follow me," she said as she led Dawn through the underwater tunnel that Charizard had once been nervous to walk through. Misty smiled as Dawn marveled at the beautiful glass walls that separated them from the water Pokémon above. However, as she was about to lead her to where the gym battles occurred, she heard a shriek and saw Dawn staring up at her Gyarados which had come down to look at them through the glass. "You don't need to worry Dawn," said Misty as she walked up next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Gyarados might look intimidating, but its not that scary when you've been around it."

Dawn sighed and waved nervously to Gyarados, who gave her what she took to be a smile before swimming away. _Gyarados is really big and scary up close. How does Misty do it?_

"Well come on," said Misty with a light chuckle in her voice. "I still need to show you the rest of the gym." Then she led Dawn to the gym, pointing to the two floating mats that she and her opponent would stand on when battling.

"Why do you have mats in the pool when you could just stand outside?"

"We don't always stand on the mats," replied Misty. "It's important to have a mix of land and water, otherwise Pokémon that can't swim won't be able to battle. It can also be good for balance training."

"Oh, I never thought of that," said Dawn who was clearly impressed. Misty then led her to another tank, which contained the small baby Pokémon. "Wow they're so cute," said Dawn as she saw the tiny face of the Goldeen and Magikarp that had come up to look at her.

"Here," said Misty as she knelt next to a bag of feed lying nearby and handed it to the younger girl. "Try feeding them. Just stick your hand in the water and they'll come up to it and eat."

Dawn did as Misty said, and soon she was giggling as the fish Pokémon began nibbling on the feed. "That tickles." Misty smiled as she watched the young girl feeding the water Pokémon. _I guess I've made another new friend._

Several hours later, Misty quickly packed her things and left Starmie and Psyduck in charge of taking care of the other Pokémon when she was away. "I've closed the Cerulean Gym for the next few days," she sad as she loaded her small suitcase into the trunk of Delia's car.

"That's good," replied Ash enthusiastically. "Now we can go pick up Brock."

Dawn seemed somewhat unsure of the setup though. "So Misty, are you sure it's okay to leave your Pokémon to hold down the fort. Do you think they can handle it?"

"You'd be surprised at what Pokémon can do if you teach them," replied Misty cheerily. "My Pokémon have been helping me take care of the gym ever since I was first put in charge of it." She then looked over at Ash who was talking to Charizard. "Charizard was also a fast learner. He helps me out whenever he comes to visit me, and I think he's happier because now he gets to be friends with all the little water Pokémon." Dawn didn't really have anything more to say, so she simply smiled in response.

"I guess you'll have to fly to Pallet Town on your own," said Ash to Charizard with a chuckle in his voice. "I don't have any pokeballs to put you in."

/"That's fine,"/ replied Charizard with a friendly roar before nailing Ash with a weak flamethrower. The young trainer fell over and gave out another weak chuckle.

_Guess some things never change_, thought Misty as she smiled at the exchange between Ash and Charizard. She got into the back of the car, and sat next to Dawn, while Ash, after waving goodbye to Charizard got in behind her and sat on her other side.

"It's been a while since I've left Cerulean City," said Misty before sighing and laying back. A white glow on her belt indicated that Azurill, the youngest of her Pokémon, had emerged from its ball. Azurill curled up on Misty's lap and the water Pokémon trainer petted her gently. "I guess it'll do me good to get out for a while. Right Azurill?"

Ash looked at the other three Pokémon on Misty's belt. "Hey Misty, what Pokémon did you take with you?"

"Other than Azurill, I took Gyarados, Staryu, and Corsola," she replied. "I had to take Azurill because she's still my baby, and I plan on having a battle with you Ash, so Gyarados was an obvious choice, and since Starmie was staying back to take care of the other Pokémon, I decided to take Staryu as well."

Ash's face brightened up noticeably. "I'll be looking forward to that," he said.

"Don't think it'll be easy because I'm only using water types," replied Misty. "Even if you use Pikachu, I'll be giving you a run for your money."

Delia chuckled as watched back and forth between Ash and Misty out of the corner of her eyes through her rear view mirror. _Those two fit perfectly together. I hope they'll be able to realize that._ It took an hour for them to reach Pewter City and pick Brock up before heading back to Pallet Town.

"Hey Misty," said Brock as when he got into the front seat next to Delia and noticed Misty sitting in the back. "How have you been?"

"I've been fine Brock. You've probably guessed by now, but I'll be coming over to Pallet Town for a little while."

Ash noticed Brock give him thumbs up when Misty and Dawn weren't looking. He rolled his eyes before looking out the window.

Misty couldn't help feeling a bit giddy, as they got closer to Pallet Town. Ash was here, she was going to see more of her friends, and there were no gym-based obligations slowing her down. Even if it wouldn't last very long, Misty knew that she would cherish the moment while it lasted. _Thank you Charizard_, she thought as they saw Pallet Town appearing over the horizon.

* * *

I know that I've been slow updating, but I do have a life to live. This chapter might've lacked some Ash/Misty moments, but I'm saving that for the next one which will also be the end of the story. I hope you're looking forward to Ash and Misty's rematch.


	10. Ash and Misty

Disclaimer: I have no rights to Pokémon and do not own it.

* * *

As he surged toward Pallet Town, well ahead of Delia's car, Charizard couldn't help feeling giddy at the thought of what he had accomplished. His new best friend and his trainer were finally reunited. Like all of Ash's original Pokémon, he had seen a connection between Ash and Misty during their travels. Off course they knew that the two weren't old enough to have a romantic relationship, but they could easily see it developing as time passed by.

He could now see Pallet Town in the distance. Perhaps he would drop in on his friends at Professor Oak's lab. The only one there he'd seen recently was Bulbasaur at the reunion. The sun was starting to set, but he would arrive long before it had completely disappeared. Feeling impatient to land, Charizard decided to fly even faster and reached the lab in less than half an hour.

Despite his size, he landed gracefully in the grassy meadow behind the lab, immediately catching Bulbasaur's attention. The grass type had just finished mediating a dispute between the some water and grass types.

/"Hey Charizard! What brings your hear?"/

/"I'm going to be staying here while Ash and Misty are here,"/ he replied. He saw Bulbasaur's face contort with surprise. /"I was at Cerulean City,"/ he said to get the grass type on the same page.

/"What were you doing there?"/

/"I had my reasons,"/ replied Charizard vaguely, putting an end to the subject. /"Anyway, I'm going to take a nap. Ash and Misty should be returning soon."/ Without waiting for a reply, Charizard lumbered over to a nearby patch of grass under a tree and laid down to rest.

Bulbasaur simply scratched his head with a vine. "Hello Bulbasaur," said Professor Oak as he walked up to the grass type. "I see that Charizard has arrived," he said with a smile.

/"Is Ash here yet?"/

"Not yet," replied the Professor, "but he'll be here soon." Oak knelt down and patted the grass type's bulb. "You really missed him, didn't you?"

/"I'm just glad that he's returned to Kanto,"/ replied Bulbasaur. /"That reunion was the most fun I had in a while, but having Ash come here was even better. I'm sure Bayleef and the others would love to meet all his new Pokémon."/

* * *

"We're finally here," said Ash when Delia pulled up in front their house. Moments after the car stopped, Ash opened the door and sprang out of the car and stretched out.

"You really don't like car rides," commented Misty as she got out behind him. Letting out a light chuckle, she said, "I hate to imagine what traveling with you would be like if we had a car."

"We wouldn't be travelling through three cities and over a mountain in one go," countered Ash. Misty, being in no mood for argument decided to concede the point.

However, she couldn't resist one final jab. "Well it's nice to see that you've learned how to think," she replied, causing Ash to pout, and making Delia chuckle.

"Were they always like that?" asked Dawn to Brock.

"No, they used to be a lot worse," he replied, being quiet enough that Ash and Misty couldn't hear him. "They used to argue back and forth whenever we got lost, and I often ended up playing the role of mediator." _Just thinking about it gives me a headache._

Ash looked around and noted that a certain Pokémon was missing. "Where's Charizard? Wouldn't he have gotten here before us?"

"He's probably resting at Professor Oak's lab," replied Misty. "He'd have been tired after the long journey since he didn't have a car to ride in," she added with a slight smirk.

"You're not letting that go are you," replied Ash in mock annoyance.

"Alright everyone, I'm going to prepare dinner," said Delia cheerfully. "Brock, would you mind helping Mr. Mime and me in the kitchen?"

"Off course Mrs. Ketchum," replied Brock curtly.

"Let's go check on Charizard," said Misty to Ash. He nodded in response and they both turned to Dawn. "Would you like to come with us? I'm sure Professor Oak would be glad to read you some of his poetry." Dawn's eyes immediately lit up and she nodded vigorously.

"Hey mom, we're going to Professor Oak's for a little while," said Ash.

"Alright, I'll call you when dinner's ready, and tell Professor Oak and Tracey that they can come too," replied Delia.

It didn't take long for them to reach the lab, and Dawn seemed to become more energetic with every step they took. "Geez Dawn, could calm down a little," said Misty with slight concern.

"I'm just so excited," replied Dawn, "I can't wait to hear Professor Oak's poetry live!" She rushed ahead of Ash and knocked vigorously on the door. Oak opened the door, and was immediately taken aback by Dawn, who was now trembling with excitement.

"Um Dawn…can I help you?" The Professor sounded, nervous, which made Ash and Misty feel somewhat sorry for him.

"I'd like to hear some of your poetry. I've always been a fan of it. Before I started traveling, I used to listen to it every day."

Cupping his chin, Oak chuckled, a hint of pride showing. "Very well, I supposed I could show you my big book of poems, I has every poem I ever wrote. Maybe you can even help me come up with more poems." Oak led the now glowing Dawn inside, briefly turning and waving hello to Ash and Misty.

The couple stepped into the lab, and quickly ran into Tracey who had come to see who was at the door. "Oh hello Ash, Misty. It's nice to see you both. We haven't all been together in a while."

"Feeling nostalgic about the Orange Islands?" asked Misty.

Tracey nodded. "Oh, and Ash, Charizard arrived a short while ago."

"Could you tell us where he is?" asked Ash. Tracey nodded and led them to Professor Oak's backyard. He led them through the grassy meadow behind Professor Oak's lab, and stopped when they reached a shady area at the edge of the forest. Charizard was sleeping at the foot of one of the trees.

"I should've guessed the he'd be sleeping," said Misty. "It would've been a long flight to get here, and it's getting late too."

"We should let him sleep for now," said Ash. "Charizard's been a big help these past few days, and he deserves to rest up." He then heard something and turned around to see Bayleef bounding toward him. "Easy Bayleef." Raising his arms, he tried to calm the grass type, and get it to stop.

Misty chuckled and stepped aside as Bayleef tackled Ash, and began nuzzling him affectionately. "Maybe you should visit your Pokémon more often Ash," she said lightheartedly. "Bayleef looks starved of affection."

That gave Ash an idea. "Hey, wait, Bayleef! Would you like to battle with me?" The grass type seemed surprised at this. "I guess you've missed me, and I'll be battling Misty tomorrow. Do you want to battle with me?" Bayleef got off Ash and nodded vigorously. However, Ash then turned to Misty. "Is that okay with you Misty? I'll be using Pikachu as well, so it might be a bit unfair."

Though she knew he said it because he cared for her, Misty felt somewhat insulted by that comment. "I'm not some amateur Ash. Being a water Pokémon trainer, I've had to deal with electric and grass types plenty of times. I can handle your Bayleef and Pikachu, in fact I actually hoped you'd use your electric and grass types."

Chuckling nervously, Ash scratched his head. "Yeah, I guess I underestimated you."

"You'd better not think about going easy on me Ash," replied Misty in a competitive tone. "I won't forgive you if you don't give me your best."

Ash smiled back at her. "You can count on it, and I plan to win."

"Hey guys," said Tracey as he ran up to them, they hadn't even noticed him leave. "Ash, you're mom called and said that she finished dinner, we're all going there now."

"Oh boy!" Ash was always excited to eat his mother's cooking. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow Bayleef," he said, and the grass type nodded before bounding off. "Alright, let's go eat." He grabbed Misty's hand, catching her by surprise and starting running. Tracey chuckled before running after them.

* * *

Ash woke up unusually early the next morning. Even though he had stuffed himself and stayed up late, he was far too excited about his upcoming battle with Misty to stay asleep for long.

He looked over at Brock, who was asleep on a makeshift guest bed next to his and quietly crept out of his room, so as not to wake the sleeping breeder. As he moved through the small upstairs hallway, he couldn't resist a peak in Misty and Dawn's guestroom. The redhead he had been looking for was sleeping in the bottom bunk.

A tender smile crept across Ash's face as he watched her still form. _I've really missed you Misty_, he thought to himself before heading downstairs to fix himself breakfast. Today they would have their Pokémon battle, but only when everyone in the house had woken up to watch it. Ash could hardly wait, and so decided to sneak out and visit Professor Oak, who would most likely be up by now.

After quickly changing into his street clothes, he headed towards Oak's lab and knocked on the door when he arrived. A few minutes later, a drowsy professor Oak opened the door. "Oh, hello Ash, why are you hear so early?"

"I couldn't wait until my battle with Misty, so I wanted to get Charizard and Bayleef."

"So you're going to use them as well as Pikachu?" Professor Oak cupped his chin. "I can see why you'd pick Bayleef, but why Charizard. Wouldn't another grass type like Bulbasaur or Sceptile be a better choice?"

Ash shook his head. "Misty would probably be ready for grass types, besides, Charizard's been training at the Cerulean Gym, so he should be familiar with Misty's style, and he was able to beat Gary's Blastoise."

"That's right," said Oak nostalgically. "I could never forget that battle. That maneuver where you changed the battlefield was brilliant. Anyway, I guess you just want me to give you their pokeballs. They should both be awake now, so you can go out back and see them."

Charizard had only been up for an hour, and was currently finishing the meal Bulbasaur had brought him. He had heard that Ash and Misty were going to have a battle today and looked forward to it.

"Hey Charizard!" The fire type looked up from his food bowl and saw his trainer running towards him with an excited look on his face. "Guess what, I've decided to use you in the battle against Misty. You think you'll be up for it?"

/"Off course I'm up for it,"/ he replied with an enthusiastic roar. He immediately thought of battling Misty's Gyarados.

"Great, when you're done eating, come back to my house, I'll be waiting there to get in some training. The dragon roared happily, nailing Ash with a minor burst of fire. The trainer fell over, his body sizzling, but he was used to it by now and quickly recovered. "I'll see you later Charizard," he said before rushing off to find Bayleef.

Charizard's excitement quickly diminished when he saw a familiar bird Pokémon land on a nearby tree. /"What do you want Pidgeot?"/ He sounded almost bitter.

/"I heard that you'd be battling for Ash against Misty,"/ he replied in a firm tone. /"Why would Ash choose you to battle for him, especially against a water type trainer like Misty?"/

A smirked crossed the fire types face. /"You've really missed a lot, haven't you. You still see me as being disobedient towards Ash, but I've long since started obeying him, and I have fought and proven myself against water types. I beat Gary's Blastoise in the Jhoto league."/

/"I still won't be satisfied until I see the battle for myself,"/ replied Pidgeot. He turned to leave.

Bulbasaur, who has seen Pidgeot leaving, came over to Charizard, who was just cleaning up his bowl. /"What was that about?"/

/"He really needs to lighten up"/ said Charizard. Bulbasaur laughed at the comment, causing Charizard to raise an eyebrow ridge. /"What's so funny?"/

/"You're very serious too Charizard,"/ replied Bulbasaur. /"So what's eating Pidgeot? Don't lie to me, I'm a lot more perceptive that I look."/

/"He saw me helping Misty in Cerulean City,"/ replied Charizard. Bulbasaur was now completely confused. /"I happened by Cerulean City when I was out travelling."/

"I get it. He didn't know that you were now obedient to Ash, so he thought that you were defecting and wanted to be Misty's Pokémon."/

/"I don't get it. Why would he take it so far?"/

"He's Ash's third Pokémon,"/ said Bulbasaur. /"Back then, Misty and Brock would tease Ash about not capturing many Pokémon. Pidgeot felt that having a few loyal Pokémon was better than having many Pokémon. He took pride in loyalty."/

/"I still think he's going too far, but I'll show him, when I help Ash beat Misty."/ Charizard stood up. It was odd since this was the first time Ash was using him in a battle against a close friend, but he wouldn't let that get in the way. He knew that Misty would be tough to beat even if Ash was using Pikachu and Bayleef. /"I'm going to Ash's house. I'll see you at the battlefield."/ Charizard took off towards Ash's house.

* * *

Ash and Misty stood on opposite ends of a grassy meadow that was next to a lake. They were in Professor Oak's backyard, and Oak's Pokémon had set up bleachers so that Tracey, Oak, Delia and Mr. Mime could watch comfortably. Brock would be the referee.

"This is a three on three battle with no time limit," announced Brock. "The person with the last standing Pokémon wins." He raised both his flags. "Now! Begin!"

"Alright Ash, I hope you're not planning to hold back. You'll need your best to beat me," said Misty confidently before throwing Corsola's pokeball. The water and rock type had an ever-cheerful demeanor, but Ash knew that it was one of Misty's strongest.

"Alright, then I'll choose Bayleef." Ash's grass type towered over Corsola, but Ash noted that Misty wasn't worried at all. _I wouldn't expect any less, she's probably got a strategy figured out. I'd better block Corsola from reaching the water._ "Alright Bayleef, use vine whip to snag Corsola!"

Bayleef obeyed and vines shot out of its neck at a surprising speed. Misty knew that it would be doubly super effect. "Alright Corsola, use water gun to launch yourself into the air!" After doing so, Corsola was now airborne, and above Bayleef, but now it couldn't hope to dodge vine whip.

"We've got her now! Get Corsola with vine whip," said Ash enthusiastically.

"Now use pin missile on Bayleef!" The still airborne Corsola let loose a barrage of needles that seemed to paralyze Bayleef, the grass type found it hard to focus. "Ash, even if Bayleef is a grass type, my Corsola can still find a way around it. Now use Ice beam when you land!" Corsola hit the ground behind Bayleef and spun around before using Ice Beam.

"Oh no! Bayleef, use vine whip to jump!" In spite of its growing fatigue, Bayleef mustered up the strength to leap into the air. "Great, now body slam Corsola!" Putting its weight behind its momentum, Bayleef slammed into Corsola, seeming to crush it beneath its weight.

Misty maintained a laser like focus. "Corsola, use pin missile!" At first it didn't look like Corsola could do anything, but slowly, Bayleef began to feel uncomfortable, until the force that had built up beneath if launch it into the air. "Now use recover!" Corsola's body began to glow as it began healing the damage Bayleef's body slam had caused.

Bayleef landed with a thud, and struggle to stand. "I know you're tired Bayleef, but try to hang in there," encouraged Ash. Bayleef smiled and nodded in response. "Good now hit Corsola with razor leaf while its still recovering." Mustering up the last bit of strength it had, Bayleef launch a barrage of leaves at Corsola, who was too busy recovering to be able to dodge.

Corsola's recovery was cut short by Bayleef's doubly effective attack. "Don't give up Corsola! Use Ice Beam!" Obeying its master, Corsola mustered up its last bit of strength and nailed Bayleef with its ice beam. The grass type collapsed onto the ground, and fainted.

Brock raised one of his flags. "Bayleef is unable to battle! Corsola is the winner!"

"Alright Corsola," said Misty happily. "You were great-" Misty's victory was cut short when Corsola also collapsed and fainted. "I'm still proud of you Corsola. Return, you deserve a long rest." Misty called back her Pokémon and Ash did the same.

"Uh, I guess that means it was a tie," said Brock.

"No, I think Corsola won," replied Ash, surprising both Brock and Misty. "Bayleef fainted first, so its only fair, besides, this isn't best of three, its about who has the last standing Pokémon."

"That's right," replied Misty. _And I'll make sure it's me._ "Alright Ash, let's see how well you handle this! Go Staryu!" _I think I know whom he'll use next._

Ash turned to the electric mouse that now stood behind him. His cheeks had small sparks coming out of them in anticipation. "Alright Pikachu, it's time." Ash's expression became more serious as his first Pokémon charged out onto the field. _She'll be using Gyarados next. Pikachu and I better finish this quickly. Charizard might be strong, but he'll be at a disadvantage against Gyarados, so Pikachu will have to weaken it. _"Pikachu! Hit Staryu with thunderbolt!"

The electric mouse launched a powerful attack that could knock out most water Pokémon in one hit. However, Misty wasn't worried. "Staryu, use your thunderbolt to block Pikachu's!" Staryu began spinning rapidly in place, generating a its own electricity, and using it to counter Pikachu's. A small explosion occurred and Misty quickly took advantage of the resulting cloud of smoke. "Now use swift to knock Pikachu off balance!" Staryu stopped spinning and launched its swift attack.

For Pikachu, the attack seemed to come out of nowhere because of the smoke obscuring its vision, and it knocked Pikachu onto his back. "Hey I didn't know Staryu could do that!"

"Actually, I got that move from the Orange Islands, remember Rudy the Trovita Gym Leader?"

"Oh! Now I remember. Alright Pikachu, let's show her what we've learned! Use quick attack!" Pikachu moved at high speed towards Staryu, since the smoke was now clear, he had a clear shot at his target. "Now turn that into a volt tackle," ordered Ash. Pikachu gained momentum and an electrical aura now surrounded it.

"That won't work on us, now Staryu, use blizzard!" Staryu launched a powerful ice type move that slowed Pikachu down considerably. The electric mouse struggled against the harshly cold wind, before giving out a mere five feet away from its target, and being hurled back against a tree. "I told you not to underestimate me Ash," said Misty confidently. "Even with Pikachu, you can't beat me with just a frontal assault."

_Misty's so tough…I don't remember her being so good, I guess she's really improved as a water Pokémon trainer._ "Hey Pikachu, are you alright?" Pikachu got up and briefly shook his head to recover from his daze before darting back onto the battlefield. _I hope this works!_ "Try quick attack again!" Pikachu knew that Ash had something planned; he wasn't dumb enough to try the same failed maneuver twice.

"I told you a frontal assault wouldn't work. Staryu, counter with Blizzard again!" The water type began using blizzard and it seemed like it would be a repeat of the previous time.

"Alright Pikachu, try using iron tail to jump!" It wasn't easy with the constant pressure of a powerful blizzard attack, but Pikachu's tail began to glow, and he was able to slam it into the ground, using the force to propel himself into the air and above Staryu's blizzard. "Now use volt tackle to hit Staryu!" Pikachu began charging an electric aura and dived down towards Staryu.

_Blizzard can't stop that!_ "Use harden to protect yourself!" Staryu's body became shinier as its defense increased. However, when Pikachu collided, it still caused severe damage.

"Good job Pikachu," said Ash as the electric mouse leapt back from the down water type, panting with exhaustion. "Oh right, that attack damaged you as well."

Brock raised his flag. "Staryu is unable to battle. Pikachu wins!"

"Return Staryu," said Misty. "You did well, especially since you were fighting Pikachu. Alright Ash, you know what's coming. Go Gyarados!" The large sea serpent Pokémon roared as soon as it emerged form its pokeball, towering over the tiring Pikachu.

Ash began to second-guess the idea of keeping Pikachu out against Gyarados. "Hey Pikachu, do you want to come back?" Pikachu shook his head. "But why?"

/"We planned this Ash. I'll weaken Gyarados as much as I can. I do have a double type advantage."/

"Alright, then. Pikachu, use quick attack. Try to jump onto Gyarados!" Pikachu obeyed, but wasn't move as fast as he could have at full strength.

"Gyarados don't let Pikachu touch you. Dive into the lake!" Despite its size, the large serpent leaped into the water, dodging Pikachu's attack. "Alright, now use dragon rage!" Gyarados didn't emerge from the water, but generated a large tornado of water. Slowly, the twister crept out of the water, and Pikachu had difficulty resisting the gale force winds.

_Pikachu can't keep this up much longer_, thought Ash. "Use thunder Pikachu! Aim it at the lake!" The Electric mouse gathered as much energy as it could and then sent a powerful bolt of lightning up into the air. The lightning then curved downwards, heading towards Gyarados who was in the eye of the twister.

"Gyarados! Use protect!" Obeying its master, Gyarados stopped its attack and was quickly surrounded by a force field that repelled thunder. "Pikachu's tired, use earthquake!" Gyarados began slamming its tail into the ground, causing the earth to shake, knocking its opponent off balance.

Unable to withstand a super effective attack in his tired state, Pikachu quickly gave out and fainted. Gyarados ceased its attack, allowing Ash to run over to check on his Pokémon. "Pikachu is unable to battle," said Brock.

Picking up his first Pokémon, Ash cradled him. "Hey Pikachu, are you gonna be okay?"

/"I am,"/ replied Pikachu weakly before passing out. Ash carried him over to the bleachers, handing him to his mom, who let Pikachu lie down on her lap.

"Alright Misty, we're each down to our last Pokémon. Whoever wins this will win the match." He briefly stared at Charizard's pokeball. _It's all up to you now._ "Go Charizard!"

When Charizard appeared out of his pokeball, he roared as if challenging Gyarados. /_I've been waiting for this. I hope you're watching Pidgeot. Even if I am friends with Misty, I'll still battle her with everything I've got._ /

"Why would Ash use Charizard?" asked Dawn in a worried tone. "Charizard would be at a disadvantage to Gyarados."

"Not necessarily," replied Professor Oak. "Ash has often came back and won a battle even when his Pokémon has been at a disadvantage. Charizard was able to defeat three of my grandson Gary's Pokémon in the Jhoto league, including his Blastoise."

"Yeah, and don't forget that Misty's been battling with a type disadvantage so far," added Tracey. "Staryu and Corsola were both at a disadvantage to Pikachu and Bayleef, but they still put up a good fight."

"I guess so," replied Dawn. _But Misty's Gyarados looks unstoppable._

_Charizard's at a disadvantage_, thought Ash. _We'd better finish this quickly, and stop Gyarados from diving under water._ "Charizard use dragon breath!"

Misty quickly caught on. "Gyarados, use protect and then fire your own dragon breath!"

"Charizard fly into the air!" After failing to hit Gyarados, Charizard went airborne to escape Gyarados' dragon breath.

"Now Gyarados, dive into the lake." Gyarados obeyed and was soon safely underwater where Charizard couldn't touch it. Misty saw Charizard flying back and forth over the lake. _Ash thinks that Charizard will be safe in the air. He's waiting to attack Gyarados when it surfaces to attack him. A devious grin crossed her face. All right Ash, I'll take your bait._ "Now Gyarados! Use bounce!"

Both Ash and Charizard were caught off guard when Gyarados surged out of the water and rose to Charizard's level. However, Ash broke out of his daze. "Dodge it Charizard, and hit Gyarados with skull bash!" Charizard obeyed and flew out of the way, before lowering its head to ram Gyarados.

"Gyarados, use hydro pump!" Gyarados fired a powerful jet of water, but Charizard swerved out of the way, being more maneuverable in the air. However, as Charizard was about to make contact, Gyarados jerked its body out of the way, and wrapped itself around Charizard. "Yes! You got him!"

Charizard was still able to fly, but Gyarados was maintaining a tight hold, and it was now clearly in control. _Oh no, if Charizard's throws Gyarados, it'll just land back in the lake._ Then a smile crossed Ash's face. _Maybe I can use this to my advantage._ "Charizard! Use your aerial submission, but make sure you're not over the lake." Charizard nodded and flew higher into the air, with Gyarados hanging on. He made sure to fly away from the lake. As he did so, he began spinning, making Gyarados dizzy.

Misty quickly caught on. "Gyarados, use dragon rage to stop Charizard!" Gyarados began to roar loudly, and soon, the air around it and Charizard was powerful vortex. The combined force of the dragon rage, and aerial submission ripped the two Pokémon apart, sending them flying in opposite directions.

Charizard quickly righted himself and watch Gyarados flying towards some nearby trees. However, Misty ordered it to fire hyper beam, to propel it back towards the lake, where it landed safely. /_Gyarados might be the toughest opponent I've fought, but Misty's excellent coaching probably has a lot to do with that._ /

Misty narrowed her eyes. _He nearly got Gyarados out of the water. Charizard's more maneuverable than Gyarados in the air. I need a different tactic._ "Use Rain Dance!" Gyarados' head popped out of the water and roared loudly, summoning up a huge dark cloud that covered the entire field. Moments later, a torrential downpour began soaking the field.

"Why'd she have to use that move?" complained Dawn as she tried to protect her hair.

"Don't worry, I was expecting this," said Professor Oak before pushing a button on a remote control. Soon, a large umbrella emerged from the back of the bleachers to cover them.

Misty now felt emboldened since the rain gave Gyarados the advantage. "Now use hydro pump." Gyarados' hydro pump was stronger than normal and surprised Charizard when it nearly hit him.

Ash was now getting worried. That rain dance has made things a lot tougher. _Charizard's uncomfortable in the rain, and his fire type moves will be a lot less effective._ "We need to end this fast. Charizard use dragon rage!"

Charizard fired a powerful ball of energy, his own version of dragon rage. Gyarados ducked underwater, but the force of the blast was still able to throw it out of the water. Charizard had no intention of letting it fall back into the water, so he swooped in and grabbed the water serpent, taking it higher into the air.

Ash saw the opportunity. "Alright Charizard! Use seismic toss fast!"

Charizard lifted Gyarados into the air, and tried to fly away from the lake. After doing three somersaults, he flew towards the ground, intending slam Gyarados into it. "Quick Gyarados use hydro pump to stop Charizard's attack!" Gyarados fired hydro pump at the ground and with its power boosted by rain dance, it was able force Charizard back over the lake.

_Charizard, you're my friend and I hate to do this to you, but I wanted Ash to give me his best, and I'm going to do the same._ "Now Gyarados, combine whirlpool and dragon rage and trap Charizard!" Gyarados broke free of Charizard's grip and fired whirlpool at the lake, but then it roared and summoned up another dragon rage. When the two attacks met, they created a large swirling tower of water that surrounded Charizard.

Even after walking through the tunnel in the Cerulean gym didn't prepare Charizard for his current predicament. The large water vortex towered over him and he could've sworn that he saw the top closing over. /_This is bad…this is definitely not fun anymore!_ /

"Don't give up Charizard," encouraged Ash. "Just stay calm, there has to be a way out!" _Misty's Gyarados is so powerful, but this must be draining its energy. Maybe we still stand a chance._

Charizard decided to fly up and out of the hole at the top, but as he neared his goal, Gyarados erupted out of the side of the vortex and almost bit down on Charizard's wing. Charizard stopped the attack by grabbing onto its jaws. Gyarados pushed Charizard back against the wall of water, causing him to wince. Letting go of one of his jaws, Charizard clenched a fist and nailed Gyarados with a mega punch, but the water absorbed the impact and the serpent disappeared into it.

"Charizard's trapped," said Misty. "Gyarados can appear anywhere in that vortex and he won't be getting out of there anytime soon."

"I wouldn't count Charizard yet," replied Ash. "Try a steel wing," yelled Ash to Charizard.

Charizard barely heard his master's command and its wings began to glow. He tried to fly up over the top of vortex, and Gyarados appeared again, this time above him.

"Gyarados, if you can hear me use thrash!" Gyarados was considerably better and hearing its master's commands through the vortex, and brought its tail down on Charizard's shoulder, causing him to roar in pain.

However, Charizard was not willing to give up and fall into the water, and rammed his wing into Gyarados, sending it flying into the side of the vortex. He then tried to hit Gyarados with a flamethrower, but the attack fizzled out before it could even reach it and it disappeared into the vortex again. /_Idiot! Off course that wouldn't work,_ / scolded Charizard to himself.

Outside the vortex, Misty was ready to end the battle. "Alright Gyarados! Use dragon dance to power yourself up!"

Ash was now getting nervous. _Charizard still hasn't come out! Gyarados must be tiring. There has to be a way to break that vortex._ Then an idea came to him. _The rain dance must be fueling Gyarados power. That's why it's able to maintain this._ "Charizard! Use Sunny Day! Hurry before Gyarados can finish its dragon dance!"

When Charizard heard his master's command, he gathered his energy before unleashing a powerful roar. At first the clouds didn't part, but after several roars, the sun began to shine through them and the rain ceased. Charizard could soon see the vortex begin to thin out at the top, and felt invigorated by the powerful rays of the sun.

Gyarados roared, indicating that its dragon dance had ended. "Use giga impact," said Misty when she heard it.

As Charizard tried to fly out of the top again, Gyarados came surging out of the collapsing wall of water. Charizard roared in pain as its flame hit the water. The force of Gyarados' attack sent them both out of the vortex, and hurtling towards the lake. The vortex collapsed soon after. Charizard fired a dragon rage to change his trajectory so he would land on the ground instead of in the water.

Gyarados had a much softer landing and soon rose out of the water. However, the bright sunlight had a weakening effect on it and it lacked the strength to perform another rain dance. Charizard, however, struggled to stand up, despite the warming rays of the sun. His flame was now smaller than it normally would be and Brock was almost ready to give Gyarados the battle when he suddenly started to glow bright red.

"What's going on?" Ash marveled at Charizard's tail flame, which was now starting to grow rapidly.

"It's blaze," said Professor Oak. "When Charizard or any fire type starter is near the brink of fainting, it gets a second wind, a massive power boost that makes its fire type attacks much stronger.

Ash regained his confidence at the sight of Charizard's power boost. "Alright Charizard. Let's end this! Use Overheat!" Charizard's tail flame became like a wildfire and the powerful jet of fire from his mouth nailed Gyarados who was still resting from using giga impact.

In spite of being a water type, Gyarados felt the sting of the flames, especially with sunny day amplifying its effect. "Don't give up Gyarados," encouraged Misty. "Charizard can't take much more! Use hydro pump!" Gyarados began firing off several hydro pumps.

Charizard knew that his fire type move wouldn't be able to get a critical hit again, and took to the air to dodge the attacks. /_I know I'm stronger than ever now, but one hit is all it'll take for me to go down._ /

"Hey Charizard! We'll have to end it in one blow," said Ash. "Use hyper beam!"

"Gyarados! Counter with your hyper beam," yelled Misty in response.

The two beams collided and both Pokémon were running low on energy. Charizard's boost mainly applied to his fire type moves and even then, blaze was starting to wear off. Mustering up his last bit of strength, Charizard pushed Gyarados' beam back, before the two beams exploded. Charizard was farther away from the explosion, but it still came very close to knocking him out. Before he passed out, Charizard heard Brock announcing that Gyarados was unable to battle.

* * *

Charizard smiled as Pikachu came running out of the building and leapt onto his back. /"How long?"/

/"They'll be out soon,"/ replied Pikachu. /"They just need to say goodbye to everyone."/

/"I'm glad things finally worked out,"/ said Charizard happily.

Moments later, Ash and Misty came running out of the nearby building. They were both adults now. Ash's black tuxedo stood in sharp contrast with Misty pure white wedding gown. "Sorry to keep you waiting," said Ash as he got onto Charizard's back before helping Misty on as well. "Alright Charizard, you know where, so full speed ahead," said Ah enthusiastically. Charizard roared in response before taking off, carrying the newlywed couple, and Pikachu into the horizon.

* * *

I hope the ending didn't seem too abrupt. I wanted to have something with Ash and Misty getting married and having Charizard carry them off at the end, but I didn't want to got through the whole thing with Ash departing for Sinnoh again. Also, I hope you enjoyed the Ash vs Misty battle and I'm especially curious about your thoughts on Gyarados' water vortex.


	11. Respect at Last

Disclaimer: I have no rights to Pokémon and do not own it.

* * *

Charizard's eyes fluttered open. Looking around, he could tell that he'd been brought into Professor Oak's lab. He was currently lying down on a white mat. Gyarados, Bayleef, Corsola, Pikachu, and Staryu were also lying on mats in other parts of the room. Since the space was superbly climate controlled, they had no need for blankets.

He quickly remembered the battle, as well as that dream he'd had shortly after loosing consciousness. /_Someday that'll really happen_, / thought Charizard with a slight smile. As his grogginess began to recede, that dream began to fade into oblivion. He got up quietly so as not to disturb the others, and lumbered over to the door, which brought him into Oak's main hallways. He could see the windows at one end of the hall, through which he could clearly see Oak's backyard. /_I should go over there if I want to talk to someone. Pikachu's in there along with all the Pokémon Misty used so they must both still be here. /_

When he got outside, he could hear various sounds from Pokémon going about their business, but there was no sign of anyone he could talk to until a familiar bird Pokémon landed in front of him.

/"I saw you coming out of the lab,"/ said Pidgeot in a business like tone, giving Charizard the hint that he didn't want to waste any time with useless banter.

Charizard couldn't help smiling. /"Good morning to you too." / replied the fire-type, in a tone that advertised his good mood. /"Did you see me help Ash defeat Misty? I'm sure my training at the Cerulean Gym helped me out a little bit when facing Gyarados in that water vortex, but it was still a bit scary."/

Pidgeot knew what Charizard wanted him to admit, and he now had no reason not to. Bulbasaur had talked to him earlier, reinforcing the fact that Charizard was one of Ash's loyal Pokémon. It would be foolish for him to deny it after witnessing that battle. /"I'll admit that I was wrong about you and Misty,"/ he said somewhat begrudgingly, /"but your ego's still as large as it was back then,"/ he added more lightheartedly.

/"Can you honestly blame me,"/ replied Charizard with mock arrogance. Then they both started laughing, not a hard laugh, but more akin to a softer chuckle. It wasn't in either of their characters to laugh too hard. Apologies were no longer necessary; the tension between them had finally subsided.

Bulbasaur came running up to them excitedly when upon hearing the laughter. /"So you guys aren't fighting anymore? That's awesome!"/ Then they all heard a grumbling sound coming from Charizard's stomach. /"I'll get you some breakfast,"/ he sad with a chuckle. /"By the way that was a really great battle."/

/"I suppose it was,"/ replied Charizard proudly. /"I was really rough though. I almost thought I'd lose. Misty's Gyarados was really powerful, especially with that Rain Dance."/ His belly then protested the lack of food again. /"We can talk more about it later. Right now I really need a bite to eat."/

/"I guess I'll be off then,"/ said Pidgeot. /"I'll see you both later, oh and Bulbasaur, I'll be staying here with my flock from now on. I think Ash's Starly will be better able to develop without me overshadowing him,"/ he said more seriously. Bulbasaur and Charizard both nodded understandingly and Pidgeot flew off towards a cluster of trees where his flock was currently roosting.

/"Follow me,"/ said Bulbasaur to Charizard before leading him to another building on Oak's property. The professor stored all of his Pokémon food in a separate building, often referred to as his barn. He'd recently modified it so that Bulbasaur get access to it and feed the Pokémon himself. Bulbasaur proceeded to get Charizard some food.

* * *

"Hey mom, we're going to check up on Pikachu and the other Pokémon," said Ash as he and Misty put their shoes on at the doorway.

"Alright, I'll see you both later," replied Delia from the kitchen where she, Mr. Mime, and Brock were currently doing the dishes.

As they walked to Oak's lab together, Misty couldn't help wondering something. "Hey Ash, how long until you have to return to the Sinnoh league?" Ash stopped, and turned to her with a confused expression. He hadn't expected her to ask him that. "Um…it's not as if I want you to go, but I also don't want you to just give up or slack off on your quest to enter the Sinnoh league. You can always come back here for a while after you win."

Ash seemed to realize what she was saying. "Oh…Right, I do need to get back to Sinnoh, and Dawn needs to earn more contest ribbons. Besides, I need to show Paul that I haven't given up yet. The last time, I caught him off guard, ad I know that'll he'll be stronger the next time I battle him."

"Take him down," replied Misty before they started walking again. After reaching the lab, they met Tracey at the door before he led them to the room in which their Pokémon had been recovering. They had all woken up by now, however Charizard was still the only one who had actually left the room. Tracy then left them to continue doing his chores around the lab.

Ash walked up to and knelt next to his first Pokémon. Pikachu had been the first Pokémon to wake up after Charizard, and had been sitting up, drowsily trying to maintain consciousness. "Hey Pikachu, are you okay?" The little electric mouse perked up when Ash pet him.

/"I'll be fine,"/ said Pikachu to his trainer, before directing his attention to Bayleef who had just woken up, but was still lying down drowsily. /"I'm still feeling sore, but Bayleef was really hit hard. It looks like he'll be fine, but he's exhausted so I doubt he'll be getting up for a while."/

After Pikachu leapt onto his shoulder, with noticeable less grace than normal, Ash walked up to Bayleef to check on him. Misty was preoccupied tending to her own Pokémon. Staryu seemed to be okay, albeit still somewhat drowsy and in no condition to battle. Gyarados was the most beat-up, but Corsola seemed to be the most affected, barely able to move, though still conscious.

"Hey now that I think about it, this room smells funny," said Misty, sniffing the air curiously. "It smells fruity or something."

"It's something new that the Professor told me about," said Ash, with a hint of pride that he knew more than her. "That smell is from a vapor that contains special nutrients. I don't know the details, but it's supposed to help them heal better." Ash then turned to Pikachu. "Did you see Charizard in here when you woke up?" Pikachu shook his head, indicating the answer was no. "Alright, then he must've gone outside before you woke up."

Misty had overheard them. "I'm surprised he was able to get up so early after the beating he took when he battled my Gyarados." She got up to leave the room, turning to say goodbye to her Pokémon. "You three should rest here longer. Like Ash said, the vapors will help you heal quicker." Her face softened more than it already had. "I'm so proud of all of you." When she walked out of the room, she noted that Ash was staying in the room, talking to Pikachu. _I guess that means I'll be finding Charizard on my own._

Making her way into the backyard, Misty quickly found Bulbasaur who smelled some flowers, enjoying his current time off. "Hello Bulbasaur," Misty said as she walked up to him. "Have you seen Charizard?" The grass type smiled and nodded before leading Misty towards Oak's Pokémon barn.

Charizard was just finishing up his meal when he saw Bulbasaur arriving with Misty. Bulbasaur left shortly after to continue smelling flowers before some disturbance occurred. /"Good morning,"/ said Charizard happily. /"Your Gyarados was something else. I honestly thought I would loose, and I'm still feeling a bit sore after the battle."/

"That's what I expected," she replied confidently. "No matter how strong Ash becomes as a trainer," said Misty, "I'll always be there to challenge him. He won't ever leave me behind." Charizard's smile broadened into a smirk. "I'll looking forward to facing you again," replied Misty. She stepped closer to the fire type and pated his head affectionately. "I really do appreciate what you've done for me Charizard," she said more softly.

/"It was my pleasure,"/ he replied with a friendly growl. He remembered his dream, but decided not to tell her about it. /_I do have a reputation to maintain_, / he thought.

Misty stayed with Charizard a little longer; talking with him about what Ash was planning to do next. Ash would be leaving for Sinnoh without Pidgeot, meaning that earning his next few badges would be significantly more challenging. Misty would return to Cerulean on that sane day, while Charizard would be staying with Oak until he regained the strength to fly back to Jhoto. Charizard noticed that Misty's mood had improved considerably since he first met her in Cerulean, and now he had given himself a new goal, aside from being the strongest of his kind. He would continue to visit Misty and make sure that Ash never forgot her. That dream he had would one day be a reality.

* * *

I really couldn't think of another way to finally close this up. As for the dream at the end, it was both a flash forward and Charizard's dream. It's not so much that Charizard saw the future so much as he took what he saw and made it a reality, so you automatically know that he succeeds in his new mission.


End file.
